Ghoul Hunter
by zhoujianto12
Summary: Not long after his fight against Heroes Association, Garou suddenly found himself transferred into a realm where flesh-eating monsters became a threat for humanity. Will his journey lead him into a path of redemption or instead drag him into his old monster-hobby?
1. First Encounter

**Author's Note**

This is the revised first chapter, my dear readers. I hope you like it. :-)

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

* * *

| 1. First Encounter |

After his failed attempt to vanquish the Heroes Association, Garou flew away. He ran and took shelter in any possible place he could find. He worked any available work like bounty hunting to survive. He worked because actually he despised the act of thievery, like what he did before his awakening. He did that dicreetly to avoid any trouble.

This time, his run finally led him to a foreign place. Located in an island offshore from L City, the place was a natural sanctuary. Far from disturbances and the reach of Heroes Association and its new couterpart, the mountainous area offered Garou a place to rest. Moreover, the environment was still pristine, filled with exotic faunas that of course, some of them could serve as food. Seeing the place around made his memory about Bang and his dojo rose again.

"I wonder what that geezer is doing right now," muttered Garou as he jumped to a nearby tree. Thinking about it somehow made his stomach churn. The punishment he got last time after his bout with Saitama still angered him. It showed how weak and helpless he was after his defeat.

For the time being, the former Hero Hunter was searching a place for shelter. After some minutes of running and jumping through the woods and rock hills, the silver-haired man found a clearing in the wood. What he saw made his eyes widen. Some trees in the vicinity collapsed and there was a giant hole on the ground. It was around 30 meters deep.

Garou decided to discover more. Walking slowly nearing the hole, he found something more shocking. On the base of the pit, a massive structure of some sort of gate could be seen. Some weird relief and unknown letters adorned its facade. Ancient, is the only word that could describe the structure. The gate was open and what could be seen behind it was darkness. That really piqued his interest. Perhaps, he could find some strong monsters inside that place. Although his curiosity was really strong, his instinct didn't let him go any further. He stood around the edge of the hole for some minutes while thinking the next action.

His brain suggested that the best course of action was leave the place and come back when ready. He would never know what loomed behind the door. Furthermore, some supplies must be brought along because, he didn't know about how long he would explore it. After some contemplation, he left said place for later investigation.

* * *

After gathering things he needed, Garou came back in the afternoon to investigate the mysterious structure. When he arrived at his destination, the sun was nearing its setting place. He glanced around the vicinity to make sure there was nothing off. Seeing everything seemed okay, he jumped into the pit and landed in front of the gate quietly. His golden eyes scanned around before he proceeded into the supposed darkness.

As he walked inside the massive structure, he heightened his senses. The complete darkness actually didn't bother him, but because he was curious about the surrounding, he grabbed his flashlight from his bag. He kept his pace while he pointed his flashlight around the massive corridor. So far, he didn't sense any living form nearby. The corridor itself was made of giant stone slabs, filled with reliefs. The reliefs were intact and Garou could discern some of the stories they depicted. Most of them were stories about heroes.

Although the former Hero Hunter still held grudge against the concept of heroism, he found that the concept the story was acceptable for him in some ways. The stories were about rebels who fought corrupt regimes or something that represented absolute power. The basic idea in the stories had concurrence with his action. Somewhat, he felt that whoever wrote the stories gave him justification for his action. Seeing that, his lips curled up.

Looking onto his wristwatch, he realized that his walk had taken a good 40 minutes from the entrance. Now, he saw the path was going down. The descending path finally led him to a rectangular grand hall. Unlike the path he walked through, the massive chamber was slightly illuminated by purple and green crystal chunks that stuck out from the ceiling. There were four paths in the room. The one on his back that lead back to the long corridor, one on each of his side and one in front of him. And there were also some human bones, scattered on the floor, to add horror for a common adventurer. Seeing that, he just shrugged his shoulders while walking casually.

When he reached the center of the hall, he just realized that a tile his foot had stepped on slightly went down. 'Damn,' he cursed. 'I let my guard down. It's a trap.' Seconds later, his body tensed up. His instinct screamed an incoming danger. Soon enough, he heard several thumping noise from nearly every direction. He had readied himself for anything he would face.

* * *

After slaying monsters from the crystal hall, Garou entered one of the doors. While running, the walls started to open, revealing various dungeon traps. Booby traps, poisonous darts, axe pendulums, flamethrowers, insect monsters, and so on were provided to welcome any guest. But all of them were traversed easily by the martial artist as if it was a breeze. He went ahead through the intricate network of mazes and sometimes punched walls to make shortcut. Along the way, he also found some skulls of unlucky adventurers. _'Huh? Grave-robbers,'_ as he frowned. _'How pathetic… but they deserve it.'_

As he arrived at some kind of another grand hall, he looked at his watch. '_Damn,_' as he thought. '_Five hours already. This is… ugh… whatever. Anyway, I'm hungry._' Feeling that the place was save, he plopped down on the floor and opened his bag to take his ration.

While he munched some jerked meat, he looked around the grand hall. All of the wall were made of metals, unlike the hall he saw earlier. The bright white light illuminating the hall came from rifts on it. Everything looked bizarre. As he stood up while slinging his bag onto its usual place, his eyes caught a weird pattern on the end of the hall.

When he stepped close enough, he could make out what he saw. It was an ornament with some sort of mechanism. It has some reliefs with dragon's head on its center, surrounded by five disc with a knob on each of them. Garou tried to turn the discs one by one. Nothing happened.

"Seems that this thing will only work if they turned simultaneously," as he was still turning the discs in clockwise. "Should I use Bomb's move to do this?"

He stepped back some meters to make an attacking stance. As he adjusted his legs, his arms were moved to flow the air mass around. He closed his moves by lashing out his opened palms toward the lock mechanism, sending a whirlwind. The strong circular air flow was enough to turn the discs at the same time. The next moment, the eyes of the dragon opened and glowed red. The lights in the room also turned red, following the opening of the eyes.

"And now, what?" said the former Hero Hunter. "Another monster? Common, don't make laugh."

As if he got an answer, a new being came into conversation.

"THE ONE WHO HAS COME THIS FAR," a deep robotic voice filled the room. "MUST BE A HERO!"

"Hero?" as he scowled. "The hell are they!? They are just bunch of trash who pose as the defender of justice!" he responded with anger.

"EVERYBODY WHO HAS REACHED THIS LEVEL IS A HERO. MAN WITHOUT STRONG WILL NEVER REACH THIS PLACE!" The voice said with finality.

"Then, what are you gonna do?!" he shouted. "Show yourself!"

"APPLY THE TRANSFER PROTOCOL."

The metal floor and the ceiling opened, revealing some apparatus like glowing poles. In the center of the chamber, another tool which looked like a big bell emerged from the floor. Before Garou could react, the light on the poles glowed neon blue and formed laser barricades. He was trapped inside. The activation of laser barricade then followed by the bell. Whirring sound came out from it as its rotating part was spinning while purple liquid flowed through its transparent pipes.

"OPEN THE PORTAL!" said the robotic voice.

The bell produced small thunder sparks. The sparks coursed through the laser poles, making it like a spectacular light show. A white ball which occurred above the bell then turned into a blinding light, filling the room. The former Hero Hunter could only curse the unexpected outcome of his journey.

"Daaaaaamn it…!" as the martial artist closed his eyes with his arm.

"GOOD LUCK, HERO!" said the robotic voice as the light consumed the very body of the former Hero Hunter.

* * *

_21:15 … AQUA TOWER, TOKYO_

"Soichiro, have you heard the news about CCG's last investigation in 6th ward?" asked a man in a uniform to his fellow guard.

"Hmm, yeah. If I'm not mistaken, they lost two investigators," replied Soichiro plainly.

"So, what do you think? Our office is there and we often go to that place at night. Man… we are doomed."

"Common, Izumi..." replied Soichiro as he looked around a big aquarium. "CCG is not that bad. I bet they will finish the job in no time. They just need some moment to gather more information about the culprit."

"Hehe..." Izumi let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. Maybe I'm just too scared."

As they continued their patrol, they heard a scream of a man.

"AAAGH… please, anyone… HELP ME!"

Izumi and Soichiro took a glace at each other and then ran toward the source of the voice.

"Requesting aid," said Izumi, holding his walkie-talkie while still running. "Possible encounter with ghoul."

Nearing an opening which led to the tower's deck, they found a gruesome sight. A man with suit, probably an office worker of the Aqua Tower was laying on his stomach. He got some severe wounds on his legs. Blood trails could be seen from the corridor, made it clear that he dragged himself to the finding place. The guards then came quickly to aid the man.

"Sir…" said Soichiro while holding the man's shoulder. An expression of shock was present on his face.

"P-please..." the man stuttered. "H-help me… a g-ghoul."

Izumi then helped Soichiro to lift the man. While the man was piggybacked by Soichiro, Izumi prepared his handgun. They tried to find the fastest way to evacuate the man. Along the way, the man whined due to his pain. Before they reached the closest elevator, they heard another screams and gunshots.

"WHAAA…"

"RUUUN!"

It appeared that these running men were the two guards Izumi had requested earlier. They ran toward Soichiro and Izumi.

"Run… she is too strong," said one of the guard between his breaths.

"And…" said the other one. "We must contact CCG!"

The red light from the aquarium finally revealed a slim figure of a lady. Her long violet hair was draping. Her gleaming crimson eyes was an omen of their doom. She walked slowly and by the time she found her preys, her tongue stuck out, wetting her lips.

"Oh~…" as she started conversation before began her feast. "Good evening, gentlemen~."

* * *

The female ghoul was just playing around before she enjoyed her dinner. The men were pushed back to the tower's deck. By the time they were on the lookout deck, the four guards had some cuts and bruises due to lashings. The worker was already fainted due to blood loss and pain he endured. The purple haired lady approached the men casually while four red tendrils were dancing behind her back.

The men huddled near a steel pole. Nothing could they do except looked into the sky and prayed to God. Either to give them a painless death or to bring them a savior. As the doom-bringer before them jumped toward them, their prayer was answered. Or so they thought.

Although there were no sign of raining, suddenly the cloud above them glowed a bright light. Soon after the light ceased, a black dot came out from the cloud. The dot seemed to get bigger and revealed a figure of a falling man. Their eyes widen as this falling man soon got closer to their place. A very loud thud could be heard as the man's body made contact with the metal floor of the deck. The sound made the female ghoul turned her head toward it. What made their jaws dropped was the fact that the off-looking man was not killed nor injured despite his unholy crash-landing onto a metal surface, no less.

"DAMN THAT MACHINE!" the newly arrived being shouted as he tried to rise up. "WHAT DO IT THINK I AM?!"

Both the preys and the predator could not grasp any logic of the occurrence before them. As they still gawked at him, he stood and moved his body parts to make sure there were no damage on him. Then, his piercing gaze met their eyes. The men gasped while the red-eyed woman took some steps backward, out of reflex. His face made a grimace when a new reality struck him. The circumstances around made his exhaustion from the teleportation grew even more.

"JUST NOW A MACHINE," he roared once again. "AND NOW… WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

Pushing all of his courage, one of the men tried to contact the stranger. It was a desperate attempt, based on his believe that the stranger was god-sent, since he fell from heaven and showed no sign of injury.

"S-s-sir," as he stuttered. "I-I know you are strong. P-please… help us."

"We beg you, s-sir," as Izumi's palms met each other as a sign for begging. "Please… save us."

The man with V shaped hairstyle at first was just staring at the huddled men. He saw there were trails of blood along the way to the pole. His eyes then met with figure of the red-eyed carnivore. Instead of a monster with animalistic features, he found a full human with slight differences. Only her glowing red eyes, black sclera and the red tentacles which suggested that she is a monster. For him, it was so surreal. Something totally different from the monster he had ever seen.

After assessing the situation, the former Hero Hunter then started his move. He took off his bag and dropped it near the place where he stood. His frown was still present as his golden eyes scanned the monster. He didn't like the fact that perhaps, he must give some beating to a lady. But he could not let some injured people who were threatened by the monster probably killed. During his bout against heroes, he never involved any civilian. And even he saved an unknown child from the clutch of monsters. Unbeknownst to him, this principle of heroism was in his mind and now drove him to give a hand.

"What are you!" asked Garou with low tone. "Are you a Tiger-level threat monster?"

Hearing weird blabbering of the former Hero Hunter, the female ghoul smirked. Her red tendrils then pointed forward, ready to lash out the menacing figure in front of them. She found that he could be an appetizing meal since his tight black t-shirt revealed perfectly built muscles. To top it off, his aroma was so tempting, something smelled more delicious than normal human flesh. She licked her lips and bit her index finger in a seductive manner.

"Hoh… Old man, that was so rude~. Did your parents teach you some manner, _isekai_ hero? And..." as she continued. "We even haven't exchanged our names."

Exchanging names before a fight was something didn't match the Hunter's style. Usually, he will give his name after he beat his opponent into pulp.

"Heh… should I?" as he scoffed. "I thought a monster like you doesn't have decency in speaking. If you really want to know my name then… fine" as he shrugged his shoulders. "The name is Garou. And don't call me old man, I'm still 18."

The ghoul frowned. She was a little bit surprised to hear that Garou was around her age. '_Looks can be deceiving, huh?_' she mused. Before she focused her full attention toward the menacing man, her peripheral vision caught the expressions of the wounded men who let their jaws opened. They were shocked to hear what had just said by the silver haired man.

"I see…" as she flexed her red tentacles. "Nice to meet you, Garou-kun. My name is Rize. Rize Kamishiro," she introduced herself as she bowed.

The martial artist's body tensed up out of reflex. He knew that her introduction was her tactic before she pulled out a surprise attack. He could detect it through her breath pattern. His arms raised while his hands formed karate chop in response, making a cross line in front of his chest. As expected, the ghoul launched herself toward him seconds after the pleasantry, marking the start of a clash.

As Rize closed the range, the martial artist braced himself. This unconventional enemy perhaps could give him some surprises regarding her humanly form and the unknown property of the appendages. His mind raced to find a strategy for the worst scenario. Judging her launch earlier, his eyes telling him that she was rather speedy than most monster. And there was also other possibility that her tentacles were as hard as Orochi's horns. These speculations whirled in his brain, but finally, he chose the most primitive yet effective option to overcome them: deal with it head-on.

After all, he had faced something worse than this. He fought, he struggled, he got wounded and he lost. But he pulverized most of his foe, and he also learned many things. '_Nothing better than trying_,' as he mused.

The ghoul landed in front of the former Hero Hunter and lashed out her tendrils. She was shocked to see that her target deflected her attack. She tried to lash out her weapon consecutively yet the man could redirected her whips. Her eyes could not catch his arms movement. It was as if his arms turned into a blur. She then ran around him and lashed him all her way. And the result was the same. Even she saw the man dodged her attack without seeing it. All her attacks gone futile.

Out of Garou's expectation, the creature was weak. Weak because he found that she had very potent weapon but could not wield it properly. The tendril felt as hard as steel but she couldn't swing it harder, rendering her attack dull. '_Either she never fight or she just uses them for eating_,' as he lowered his guard.

"Huh… drained already?" a smug smirk formed on his face, seeing Rize panting heavily. "I haven't even started. Are those tentacles are just for decoration? I know they pack a punch but it seems you don't know how to use it."

"You…" she growled in a deep voice as she bowed like a runner. "I'll kill you!"

"Just try!"

She lashed her tendrils to push her body forward. As she got closer, her hand balled into a fist while her tendrils acted as tails. Her fist then met Garou's opened palm, only to be grabbed and squeezed. Her eyes widen when excruciating pain coursed through her right arm as she saw it had been twisted like a wet laundry. Before she could scream, she got a jab to her stomach, sending her flying to a nearby wall. She coughed blood. Her twisted right arm gone numb as her body shuddered. She could do nothing while she was at her current state. Her tendrils dissipated into some gas as she leaned onto the wall.

The wounded men were only staring with wide eyes and opened jaws. The feats displayed by their savior seemed to surprise them to no end. The moves of the former Hero Hunter defied their logic. Human will never be able to have such kind of ability, no matter how hard they train. It would just strengthen their belief that he is an angel, or even more.

While still leaning on the wall, Rize's broken arm soon reformed back to its normal state. This sight surprised Garou. It seemed that he forgot to count the healing factor of a monster. As he walked closer to inspect her, his mind flew back to the moment after he was ganged by A class heroes, beaten by Bang and Bomb, slashed by Royal Reaper, and finally to be burned and impaled by Orochi. '_Could it be that she is just like me? Is she also a result of evolution? Or… never mind_,' as he shrugged his thoughts.

Rize's violet eyes met with the Hunter's golden eyes. She knew that she was doomed. She still could feel his killing intent flared toward her as he stepped closer. She had underestimated him and now, it's her downfall.

"Tell me, Rize-san," as he grabbed her neck with one hand and raised her above the ground. "What are you?"

"Urk…" she couldn't mutter a word due to his tight grip.

"Is my grip too tight?" he loosened his grab a bit while her legs flailing.

"Ugghhoo…" she still couldn't speak while her hands grabbed his arm.

"Pardon me? Would you like to speak more clearly," his scowl was deepening.

While he was still holding Rize's neck, the martial artist felt a presence of a new being. Soon after, the said being came out to greet them. The first thing which came into view was a white mask and suit with matching color. The figure who appeared was a man with a giant stature. He walked to the deck while clapping his hands, slowly.

"Wonderful," said the hulking figure. "Whoever you are, I should thank you for catching that pest."

"Are you her client?" as he turned his head toward the giant and glared at him.

"You've got a nerve, kid," as he cracked his index finger. "Seems that you don't know who I am. I'll make sure that you will learn it the hard way."

"Then, so be it. Show what you are made of, masked-man!" he looked back toward Rize. "Sorry Rize-san, we will talk later."

As the masked-man ran closer toward him, Garou tossed Rize to the nearest railing like a rag doll. Her limped body wobbled after she hit cold metal pipes. While she was gasping for air, her vision directed toward Garou who tried to engage the giant masked-man, known as Yakumo Oomori. Her mind told her that fleeing was the best choice, considering they would focus in their bout. She had been given a chance to escape a terrible fate but her curiosity didn't let her go. She also didn't want to miss the incoming battle between the monsters. '_Maybe I should see this for a little while. I wonder if this guy can beat Yamori_.'

When the giant was close enough to send his fist, Garou who didn't budge an inch just sighed. He knew that this monster was just like Rize. The moment a fist sent to his face, the former Hero Hunter dodged it by lowering his head. Punch after punch was sent to him but all miss their mark. That really pissed Yamori off.

"Kid… you smell like human but I know… you are a ghoul just like us," he said while catching his breath. "And fight me seriously!"

"Hoh? So, Rize and you are called ghoul? I see." bland expression plastered on his face. "And.. you only gave me 27 punches, yet it looks like you've been chased by a demon. Seriously, you should retire, old man."

"You never feel how to be roughed up, kid," he cracked his middle finger. "I'll be happy to give you one."

"I've been through something worse than your beating," he exclaimed with bored expression. "Don't make me disappointed, old man."

Yamori's sclerae turned black, marking his kakugan activation as RC cells filling his veins. Colorful tendrils came out from his back. This time, the tendrils looked thorny and bigger compared to Rize's. As he hunched his back to let out his tendrils, the wounded men kept their attention toward the arena. Inside their hearts, they prayed for the victory of their savior.

Yamori lashed out his tendril. What he didn't expected was this time, instead of being evaded, the martial artist caught it with one hand. Before he could lash out his other tendril, Garou showed an ability that shocked everyone to their core. Garou cut Yamori's tendril using Bomb's technique. The condensed air mass sliced through the RC cell thread with ease. As Yamori's mind still processing what had just happened, Garou sent consecutive punches to Yamori's body using Water Flowing Rock Smashing Fist. Blood coloring his suit while the pain coursed through his nerves. His tattered cloths revealed his caved in chest caused by the beating.

"AARRRGGH," he screamed with muffled voice as he fell down, writhing in anguish. His tendril dissipated as his body touched the floor.

"Didn't I tell you, old man…" as Garou crouched close to Yamori, still with his bland expression. "You should retire."

"I-impossible… h-how c-can you…"

Before Yamori could finish his sentence, the former Hero Hunter stood up and crushed his right arm by stepping on it. Yamori screamed. As if didn't want to let him draw any breath, Garou continued the torture by slashing the ghoul's legs using Whirlwind Iron Cutting. Another scream followed.

The wounded men cringed when seeing the morbid act displayed by the god-sent hero. A new dread crept down their souls. Turned out, their savior is a psychopath. The possibility that they would also become his next victim filled their heads. The guy also seemed to get pissed off easily, making their minds pointed toward the conclusion that they would likely go out from the place in body bags. It seemed that eaten by ghoul was much better than brutalized by their supposed savior.

Seeing the ensuing nasty outcome, Rize who was still lying near the railing tried to act fast. She knew that this was the right time for escape. With her remaining strength, she dragged herself to the edge of deck. Before she fell down, she pulled out her tendrils to help her swing between steel beams so that she could find a safe landing. When the former Hero Hunter looked at her previous place, she had just descended.

Garou only turned his head while he grabbed and pulled up Yamori's head.

Suffice to say that Yamori's state was worse than Rize's. He had rapid regeneration ability but it wouldn't help since the damage was too great. It seemed that the martial artist's punches had obliterated his internal organs. Moreover, the madman could make strong blades out of thin air. Escape chance was nearly zero. This man could slit his neck at any moment. He was dead for sure. He gritted his teeth as the psycho's piercing gaze filled his vision.

"Old, man… what's your name?" he said slowly and clearly while pressing his fingers deeper into Yamori's scalp.

Yamori's mind was spinning. Judging by the act toward Rize and himself, he thought that the madman could become a threat to his men and Aogiri, or even to entire ghoul population in Tokyo. Moreover, there was possibility that the silver-haired man could be a very powerful CCG agent. Telling his name would be a dead flag for ghouls. He chose to kept silent.

"Oi," the torturer shook Yamori's head. "Are you still conscious?"

Getting no response, Garou decided to take out Yamori's white mask. The face behind the mask surprised him a little bit. The distance between the man's eyes abnormally wide. He still gritted his teeth due to the pain he suffered. The fact that the eyes only gave Garou a bizarre hateful glare made the former Hero Hunter sneered.

"Don't want to speak?!" said the Hunter with anger in his tone. "Then begone!"

With WIC generated by his other arm, the Hunter then severed all of his victim's limbs, leaving merely a torso with a head. He raised Yamori's limbless body and kicked his chest, sending him flying out from the deck. As Yamori fell, he picked Yamori's mask.

The spectators only grimaced at the display of the unimaginable brutality. In their mind, only a devil who could commit such kind of gruesomeness. As their supposed savior came closer to them, a feeling of intense dread filled their battered bodies. They huddled closer. Their lips were trembling while tears flowing down their cheeks. They never knew what kind of sin they had committed so that they deserve this divine punishment. When the torturer stood a feet away in front of them, either they close their eyes or they stare with terrified look. Then, only one of them who dared to make plea to the savior.

"I-I… beg you… " Soichiro stuttered as his tears flowing like rivers. "Please don't kill us!"

Garou responded with a sigh. He crouched in front of Soichiro and placed his hand on Soichiro's shoulder. His gaze softened and a small smile formed on his face.

"Take it easy, sir," he patted Soichiro's shoulder. "I didn't intend to kill you. And now, please tell me! Where am I?"

Hearing the question, the other men took a glance at each other.

"Eh?" Soichiro's mouth hung a bit while snot coming out from his nostril.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Well… dear readers, this is my first fanfiction. I know that this is still very crude.

Comment, reviews and constructive ideas are needed. But please, don't incinerate me or lash me out with your kagune :-D.

Thanks for reading and for all your supports.

See you in the next one.


	2. An Offer

**Author's Note**

Before we begin this second chapter, I would like to tell you that… I made a big mistake. Garou was OOC in the first chapter. Actually his cockiness has gone after he got beaten by Saitama. Fortunately, one of my dear readers has reminded me about it, so I decided to make some slight changes. Please check it out. Though it seems not as cool as the previous post, but I hope you like it.

Response to some Guest Reviewers…

1\. Garou's disappointment and CCG

Sorry. This is after he got beaten by Saitama. So his ideal has changed. Regarding CCG, you will find later in this second chapter that… he won't cause any trouble.

2\. About Zombieman

Oh my dear reader… actually before I planned to make this fic, when I first saw the ability and character of the undead hero, I thought that it would be cool to fling him into ghoul's realm. But I found later that his character is something really hard (for me) to develop.

3\. DOOM X Tokyo Ghoul

I'm sorry. I don't know about DOOM universe.

4\. "Continue this fic"

Thank you so much my dear readers! Your supports and constructive ideas would be very useful in the days to come. :-D

Without further ado, let's begin.

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| 2. An Offer |

_CCG MAIN HQ… 1__st__ WARD, TOKYO_

* * *

Inside a big building, four people who looked like businessmen were gathering near a lobby. They appeared to be members of an organization which job was eradicating flash-eating monster. That night, they were summoned by the office due to an extraordinary incident. They were drawn in a conversation about many things behind the incident which happened some hours prior. They hadn't get much detail regarding what happened but the office said that the matter was very serious. While they talked, a man who wore a trench coat with pensive expression walked toward them.

"Any news from the witness, Marude-san?" asked a man with very thick eyebrows.

"Investigator Kuroiwa, unfortunately, they are still traumatized. On the other hand, the police department shared to us some footage from security cameras and photos taken at Aqua Tower," said Marude as he showed a flash-drive.

"That's good," said a man who had hunched-back and stringy white hair. "I want to see it soon. By the way, I heard that the place was like a slaughter house. Is that true?"

Marude drew a deep breath. When he got the news and rushed to the police department earlier that night, the cops showed him some photographs taken right after the witnesses were secured. When he saw that, he could only stare with wide eyes. Even other investigators who joined him were horrified and disgusted to see them.

"Well…" Marude let out a long sigh. "That's true. The police showed me the photographs and it was…"

"Scary?" asked a friendly-looking man with tufty hair.

"I don't know how to put it, Shinohara-san," replied Marude. "It was more terrible than the work of a ghoul. The shocking thing is, the police ran a quick RC cell test on the perpetrator and proved that he is not a ghoul."

Hearing that, the men widen their eyes. Their thought pointed toward some possibilities that the perpetrator was either an undisciplined investigator or a vigilante who possessed illegal quinque.

"If that's not shocking enough," as Marude continued. "DNA test confirmed that the mutilated limbs belong to Jason… And the police could not find any weapon that was used."

The men either gasped or opened their mouth after taking the news from Marude. Yamori, known by investigators as Jason, was a very dangerous ghoul. Senior investigators would have a hard time to deal with him. Let alone beat him. Moreover, the fact that police could not find any weapon was nonsensical. Were they dealing with supernatural being? Soon enough, their question would be answered.

"That's all what we can gather so far," said Marude while glancing at his watch.

"I see," Shinohara nodded. "Then, we are here for an extraordinary meeting right? When will it get started?"

"Ten minutes more," said a very tall man who appeared to be a junior investigator. "Shall we go now?"

"Alright, let's go," replied Shinohara as he walked.

"Oh, Amon~…" said the hunched-back investigator who walked beside the junior. "Take it easy. I think sometimes you should relax for a little while."

Amon only sighed. "Well, other investigators have waited at the meeting room. I feel it's kinda rude to make them wait."

"Mado-san is right," Shinohara chimed in as he smiled. "You are too serious, Amon. Right, Iwa-cho?"

Kuroiwa replied with a nod. Before Amon could give any respond, Marude who walked behind him tugged his sleeve lightly.

"Uhh, Amon…" said Marude, half whispering. "You have experience in dealing with young lad, right?"

"What do you mean, Investigator Marude?" asked Amon while frowing.

"I want you to be the interrogator for a… 'witness' of this case."

"What?" Amon stopped his pace as the other took a glance at him. "But…"

"Come on, this is no big deal," Marude gave a wide smile. "I've also appointed other investigators."

"Well. Can't be helped," the tall man surrendered and continued his pace. "When?"

"Tomorrow at around 8:30 The police will bring him here. I'll share some details later after the meeting."

"Very well," said Amon.

"Thanks, Amon," said Marude while grabbing a door handle of the meeting room.

* * *

The morning had come. The martial artist slowly opened his eyes as the sun rays filled the place where he slept. After his "heroic" action in Aqua Tower, local branch of Tokyo Police Department took him into custody. Although he knew that he would be detained, he just complied. He didn't have any desire to resist the orders from the police since his pride as a Hero Hunter had been crushed by Caped Baldy. His cockiness had gone, leaving a feeling of mild guilt and insecurity. His action last night was just an expression of his frustration.

When he came out from his sleeping bag, he looked at the clock. It was still 5:30. He slept for around three hours due to interrogation.

From the interrogation and his observation of the surrounding, he found out that he was in a very strange place. The name "Tokyo" which he never heard before was spoken by nearly everybody. He had just knew that Tokyo was the name of the city where he was at. Moreover, the cops only frowned and confused when he asked them about something related to his world like Heroes Association. He still needed more proof before he could draw any conclusion about his present state. Transferred to another world was the most illogical possibility his mind could suggest.

"Oh, you already get up?" asked a young officer while carrying a tray. "This is still very early in the morning."

"I had slept really well. Thanks," said Garou as he crouched to fold the sleeping bag.

"We are so sorry for the inconvenience," said the officer in apologetic tone as he opened the unlocked cell door. "The other rooms have been occupied so you must slept in this cell."

"No problem. This is very convenient, I guess," replied the Hunter with a small smile.

"Anyway, if you want to use the bathroom, it's over there," the officer pointed toward a door on the end of the corridor. "And, here… you can take these spare cloths."

"Thank you," said Garou while taking the tray. "Umm… can I take my bag?"

"Oh, sure. I will bring it here," replied the officer as he took his leave from the cell.

"Okay," said the martial artist as he went out from the cell.

The fact that the police department treated him very kindly only strengthen his thought that he was in a different world. If he was still in his world, the police must have prepared bounty and contacted Heroes Association immediately. He was dead for sure. Yet, he still needed more proof. '_That damn machine maybe kicked me to another universe. But that's still doesn't explain why people here have similar culture,_' the former Hero Hunter mused as he headed to the bathroom.

* * *

Around two hours before the interrogation started, many investigators had flocked to CCG main HQ. Most of them were summoned as security backup. The news about last night incident had spread among investigators. However, CCG and the police department kept the news confidential to prevent any unwanted outcome. They promised to the news agencies to make a press conference soon after they gathered complete information about the incident.

Koutarou Amon, the appointed interrogator for the awaited man was standing near the receptionist's desk. His eyes were scanning through the document from police department. Not far from where he stood, Itsuki Marude, Yukinori Shinohara, Iwao Kuroiwa and Kureo Mado were also reading the same document. There were so many odd things about the individual who was described in the dossier.

They were drawn in a discussion as they reached the appendix. In that part, there were some photographs of the man's belongings. Some equipment he brought looked just like basic tools for survival but what made them confused was the fact that those product seemed to never exist in Japan. Moreover, there were also photos of three magazines and a handbook which showed a logo of a very odd organization. In their mind, the name "Heroes Association" was really ridiculous, if not laughable. To add the bizarreness of it, the man also brought a map which showed an island or a continent that was divided into 26 parts which named from A to Z.

"Garou, 18 years old, his origin is unknown" said Shinohara. "The police couldn't find him in the database of Japanese citizen."

"An illegal immigrant perhaps," said Kuroiwa as he scratched his chin.

"And what are these nonsense?" Marude frowned. "Heroes Association? City A, City B, City C and so forth. Can you believe this?"

"We still wait the information from witnesses," said Shinohara. "I think what they say will explain some of these weird things."

"Indeed," replied Kuroiwa. "But what make me curious is the explanation about his occupation. He said that he is a martial artist."

"Should we test him after the interrogation?" asked Shinohara while placing his hand on his chin.

"Why don't ask Amon to punch him?" asked Marude with a shrug. "If he is a martial artist, we can see his reflex."

"I think that's too much," Kuroiwa chimed in. "Any idea, Mado-san?"

The hunch-backed investigator grinned from ear to ear. After he read the document, his mind was filled with ideas which seemed far-flung yet logical.

"Well, I will leave this to Amon," he spoke with glee. "But let me tell you. We should not miss this extremely rare chance."

Amon who had been standing away from the group could hear what they were discussing. He then joined them.

"What do you mean, Mado-san?" asked Shinohara.

"He is still very young but promising," replied Mado. "We need him to support CCG. I'm certain that if he joins us and trained well enough, he will surpass Arima."

Hearing Mado's words, the others widen their eyes while taking glances at each other. For them, Kureo Mado was known for his long experience as an investigator as well as trainer. He knew whether someone is suitable to become a front-line fighter or merely sit behind a desk. They could not deny his words except one man.

"Are you crazy, Mado-san?" Marude frowned. "Kishou Arima is the strongest investigator. This kid is just nothing compared to him, and maybe he is a fraud!"

"Well, maybe Arima is. But I swear that this kid is no small fry," Mado replied the protest nonchalantly. "He would become CCG's precious asset in the days to come. If I were you, I will ask Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu to take him in."

"Well, let's see," said Marude. "Amon, I'll leave this to you. We just need the information about what he did last night."

"I will try my best," replied Amon.

"Don't leave any bad impression, kid," said Mado.

"I will, Investigator Mado."

* * *

Meanwhile, the former Hero Hunter was enjoying his morning at the police station by reading newspapers accompanied by a cup of tea and some snacks, delivered by a janitor. Basically, the people he met were very kind. Even he thought that he was at a hotel which styled like a police station.

At present time, the martial artist tried to gain as many information as possible related to this world. Suddenly, his eyes pointed toward a news about last night incident. He found that the news was still very vague since the detail hadn't been shared by the police and… CCG. While he was wondering what was CCG, the officer who interrogated him last night came into his sight. The middle-aged officer gave him a smile. Garou hesitated at first, but then he asked what he was wondering about.

"Umm, sir, can I ask you something?" Garou smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, what is that, Garou-kun?" the officer stepped closer to the bench.

"Can you tell me what is CCG?" asked the silver-haired man.

"Oh, CCG stands for Comission Counter-Ghoul," the officer started his explanation as he sat down beside Garou. "It's an organization founded to eradicate ghouls. Suffice to say, it's just like the Heroes Association from your world."

Garou widen his eyes when the officer ended the explanation. He just realized that some officers last night also read his magazines and guidebook. And the way the interrogator spoke indicated that he seemed to believe that Garou's was from another world.

"Wait… Do you believe that I am not from this world?" asked Garou in surprise.

"Garou-kun," said the interrogator as he patted Garou's back. "I've been an interrogator for 20 years and I can know whether someone is saying true or not. Yet I couldn't find you are lying."

Garou couldn't mutter a word. His mind still held doubt about inter-universe journey. He was in a deep thought about some possibility that he was trapped by Heroes Association agents in disguise.

"Well… I still hold doubt about this case though," the officer continued. "But we couldn't find any false in your words. I think explanations from witnesses will lead into clues about this case."

"I see…" replied Garou.

"Oh yeah, before I forget," said the officer as he stood. "Speaking of CCG, they need some more details about last night incident. So, we need to bring you to their headquarter later at 8 a.m. And…" the officer paused. "We would like to apologize in advance if there will be some treatment or procedures that will make you… uncomfortable."

"Very well," replied Garou with a shrug and a small smile. "I don't mind if it's a procedure."

"Thank you, Garou-kun," said the officer with a smile.

* * *

Fully armed security guards as well as high ranking investigators had prepared themselves before the "special guest" arrived. The higher-ups of CCG decided to raise the security level higher than the plan, hours prior to the interrogation. Change in decision was made due to any possibility that Aogiri could launch a retaliation attack. CCG never knew about the next move of this ghoul organization after one of its members got pulverized by a random civilian.

Deep inside the building, a middle-aged man with black hair draped into his shoulders was sitting on his chair. He was none other than the Bureau Director of CCG Main Office, Yoshitoki Washuu. The son of the CCG chairman was reading a document in his office. On his desk, there was a computer screen which showed a live video feed from cameras around the building. Suddenly, a white-haired man with bi-spectacles opened the door.

"Good morning. I'm so sorry to interrupt you," said the white-haired man.

"Ah, Kishou," the middle-aged man said with relief in his tone. "I thought you will come later around 9:30."

"Well, I cannot miss this one," replied Arima.

"Then, tell me…" Yoshitoki's face frowned as he placed the paper on his desk while his hand reaching the mouse near the monitor. "How do you think about this child?"

"I cannot say anything about him," said the white-haired man as he came closer to the desk. "But I found that he is different."

"So do I," said Yoshitoki. "Should I ask the Chairman?"

"It would be better to ask Chairman after we finish the interrogation," replied Arima as he looked into the monitor. "We don't know the motive of this person. We should be careful."

"Hmm, as expected from you, Kishou," Yoshitoki chuckled. "You always take the safe way."

The white-haired investigator, the legendary Kishou Arima who was famous as the one who defeated a SS rank ghoul in the past only responded with a smile. As he fixed his glasses position, the monitor displayed a new sight. Yoshitoki and Arima could watch two trucks and six police cars were pulling over in front of the headquarter. When it came into a stop, the truck's back door opened. A dozen of police officers who wore full SWAT gear came out. From one of the car, a civilian was taken out and immediately guarded by the SWAT team. He wore a buttoned up white shirt and black cargo pants. His V-shaped hairstyle was the most unique feature that could be seen from the security camera. His hands were cuffed. Finally, the awaited guest had arrived.

* * *

Garou was somewhat amazed. Amazed by the fact that the people lived peacefully, compared to those in his world. During his way from the police station to the CCG HQ, he saw so many foreign things. Most of them were products he never saw in his world. The city also seemed less crowded than cities in his world. His amazement made him forget that he was handcuffed, like a criminal.

The police department chose to take "coarse" action toward Garou because they were aware that he could be a very dangerous individual. They hadn't find the true motive behind his action but judging from his physical appearance and the way he moved his limbs, senior police officers could tell that he was a battle-hardened psycho. The convoy and the SWAT team was CCG's order which served as a camouflage in case they were ambushed by Aogiri Tree members who took revenge.

When the convoy pulled over in front of the CCG main HQ, the former Hero Hunter snapped back into reality. When he saw the CCG main HQ building, his thought wander into black buildings which were erected in every city by Metal Knight. But in this reality, what he saw was only an ordinary big building which seemed to be something common in City A. And the fact that only people who wore white jacket and armed soldiers who were guarding it only convince him that he was in other world. A police officer who sat beside him let him came out as the SWAT personnel came to the police car.

As he came out and escorted into the building, people were staring at him. It was like a show at the circus and it went on until he entered the main hall of the building. It seemed that his hairstyle was the source of the attraction which made people started to laugh. But when some of them saw his eyes, their joy gone completely, replaced by expression of utter shock or… fear. '_Am I scary? Seriously…_' the martial artist mused as he stared back at the people. The show then ended as he brought deeper, passing many rooms.

* * *

Amon's wristwatch showed 8:23. It was seven minutes before the interrogation started. He was reading his own handwritten list of question in a room, accompanied by some senior investigators who were watching video feed from an interrogation room. The facility they were in was actually provided for interrogating low rank ghoul. The interrogation room was like those in police station but without a one-way glass. Two minutes passed and their guest came in. As the guest seated on a metal chair by an investigator, the door in their room opened by Itsuki Marude. He walked toward Amon.

"Yo Amon," greeted Marude. "Are you ready? It seems you are nervous."

"Nervous?" Amon sighed. "I don't know. I've prepared list of questions but I think they are not suitable for this."

"Hehe… relax, Amon," Mado chimed in while rubbing Amon's shoulder. "Just let it flow like the water."

'_Let it flow like the water?_' thought Amon. '_Like usual investigation..._' Memories of his experience with investigator Mado when searching ghoul flashed in his mind. Usually, the senior investigator with sunken cheeks only asked people around some simple questions based on the information from CCG. Mado never inquired detailed information to people and let them explain what they knew. His train of thought stopped when Marude flicked the notebook Amon was holding in his hand.

"Now, get up and don't let him wait," said Marude as he grinned.

"Yeah. Don't let your little brother wait, Amon-_nii-san_," said Shinohara jokingly.

Amon could only roll his eyes as he stood to walk toward the door. The investigators in the room chuckled when seeing Amon's response toward Shinohara's joke.

* * *

Garou was waiting in the room. He was deep in thought about the situation he was in and the implication of his next actions. It hadn't been 24 hours, yet so many things he had to face, especially this so called "procedures." His thought then wondered back to the moment after he saved the wounded men. He couldn't imagine what he would face if he ran and didn't let himself taken by the police. Maybe ghoul hunting? That wouldn't work and surely cause too much trouble. '_For now, I must stay low. I don't want to cause any ruckus. Maybe if I behave myself, they will offer me…_' his musing was zapped when he heard the door opened.

A cop who brought the martial artist's bag and a giant man in businessman suit entered the room. The cop put the bag on the table, near the place where the hulk would sit. The cop then bowed to the hulk and left the room soon after, leaving him and the hulk inside. The appearance of the giant interrogator reminded Garou to the Tank-topers he brutalized so bad, one night. The martial artist could tell that behind the very neat and clean suit, there was a very chiseled body which nearly on par with Puri-Puri Prisoner's. Before the investigator took his seat, the former Hero Hunter stood and bowed to him. The investigator then followed. They took their respective seat nearly at the same time.

Amon who had taken his seat proceeded to open a folder. He took a glance at his wristwatch as he prepared his notebook and Garou's dossier. He also didn't forget to turn on the voice recorder behind his suit. As he prepared his stuffs, his peripheral vision caught the young man's piercing golden eyes directed toward him. Sweat beads formed on Amon's forehead. He felt that the man's gaze in front of him could kill him. Although somewhat painful, he tried to shrug it and started his job.

"Good morning," said Amon with slight hint of nervousness. "I'm Koutarou Amon."

"Good morning," replied Garou, followed by a nod.

"Here, I would like to ask you some questions regarding last night incident. But firstly, would you like to tell me about yourself?"

"Did you read the dossier?" replied the golden-eyed man with bland expression. "I think it answers all your questions."

Though he could maintain his composure, Amon's cold sweat dripped like fountain. The demon's mind was as sharp as his gaze, if not sharper. Amon's mind was racing for any possible response to overcome this sticky situation.

In the other room, the investigators who watched the interrogation were stunned. Their guest seemed to be no ordinary layman. Either he knew about CCG interrogation procedure or he could see what was on Amon's hand. They felt amazed by Garou and also pity for Amon who got a jab. The mental battle had just started but Amon was already in bad shape. The men in the room could only wondering what would happen next.

Finally, Amon's mind reached the things the senior investigators discussed earlier: the book, the magazines and the map. He hoped that he could gather some more information about the individual. He cleared his throat and glanced at Garou's bag as he muster all his courage to let him free from the sticky situation.

"Okay, Garou-kun," Amon started as he shoved his hand into Garou's bag. "Then, can you tell me about this book and magazines?"

Garou gave a stern look in response. He wanted to sigh because once again, he needed to explain something to someone who didn't knew anything. '_Good_,' he mused. '_I think the police didn't ask me about this._'

"The names said what they are. You can read them and ask me whatever you need," replied Garou as he looked to the door with a hint of boredom in his face.

This time, the martial artist's reply irked Amon a little bit. Ordered by an interrogatee was the last thing he would expect. Moreover, the golden-eyed demon's shift of expression from a stern look to a derisive one made Amon wanted to scold him. He would surely do that if Shinohara's joke was a reality. Unfortunately, it was a joke.

Unwillingly, Amon did what the demon had told. After all, he really needed to squeeze any information from the man. He opened the book and skimmed through the pages. Profiles of people called "Heroes" filled his vision. For him, it was an utter nonsense if not the work of some weirdo. When he glanced at the magazines and map on the table, his mind also scoffed at them. He could not stand it anymore. Reading this nonsense made him felt a slight headache. Suddenly, a piece of photograph stuck out from between the pages.

The giant investigator opened the pages and took the photo. To Amon's favor, it was a clue about the indivudual. It showed people who appeared to be disciples of some kind of martial art dojo, indicated by their karate _gi_. Among them, there was an old man who wore a black shirt and white baggy pants. When he looked at the opened page, he found the identity of the said person. '_Bang. Hero name: Silver Fang. Class: S. Rank: 3…_' Amon kept reading the short biography of the man until he found "Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist." He glanced back at the photo and saw the V-shaped hairdo was protruding among Bang's disciples. '_So he is Bang's disciple? It make sense._' Next, what he needed to ask was how the demon could beat Jason.

Garou who waited Amon's next reaction was expecting what it would lead to. Either the hulk would inquire about Bang or his technique. The martial artist leaned his back on his chair while the investigator was still reading the guidebook.

The door suddenly opened by an investigator who brought a bunch of loose papers on his hands. When he approached Amon to hand them, he tripped and the papers flew in the air. Before Amon could react, Garou had stood near the falling investigator. What Amon knew later was Garou had caught all the papers and hand it to the kneeling investigator. His hands were still cuffed. The investigator thanked Garou without looking at him. When the kneeling man stood to give the papers to Amon, the giant could only stare with wide eyes.

"Amon… Amon…" called the investigator while leaning closer to the hulk.

"Sir, did you know what happened?" asked Amon while looking at Garou who walked casually to his chair.

"What happened?" the investigator frowned.

The investigator looked at the floor to think about Amon's question. Soon, he just realized who was the one who caught the papers. It was not Amon, but someone. And the other person beside Amon was the interrogatee. He switched his gaze between Amon and the golden-eyed man. A chill flowed down his spine.

"D-did you mean…" the investigator stuttered.

"Who else?" said Amon as his gaze switched to the martial artist.

The said demon was only staring at the neon lamp as the other men were looking at him. He thought the situation was awkward, so he broke the ice.

"Surprised? Silver Fang taught me that," said the former Hero Hunter nonchalantly.

"Did you also use THAT to beat the ghoul?" inquired Amon as he regained his composure.

"I did," said Garou while a faint smile formed on his face. "Bang's technique was developed for killing monster."

Hearing the demon's reply, Amon felt a new interest about him. Somewhat, he could get the idea about how the martial artist defeated Jason. The demon's reaction proved to be irrationally swift, no wonder if an SS rank ghoul had a hard time when facing him. Amon needed to know more about him. His musing suddenly stopped when his peripheral vision caught the very body of the shocked investigator, still staring at the demon.

"Sir," said Amon while waving his hand in front of the investigator's face. "Sir, are you alright?"

* * *

The investigators in the monitoring room were also surprised. One of the computers in the room at the moment was used to replay the scene when Garou caught the flying papers. Though the video was played in slow-motion, his arms seemed to turn into blur. All they could see after that was the interrogatee handed the papers to the tripped man while Amon gawked at him.

"This is crazy," said Marude. "Is he a ghost or something?"

"Actually from the start, I'm afraid that he is a ghoul," Kuroiwa said worriedly.

"Ghoul?" asked Marude. "He passed the RC scanner machines without problem. We even had adjusted the sensitivity into the highest."

"If he is not a human, are you going to dump him?" asked Mado. "You will regret it if you do so. Right, Shinohara?"

"I think I will just leave this to the higher-ups," said Shinohara while rubbing his nape.

"Well, if you say so," said Marude.

When they were still focused on the other monitor which showed Amon who was still asking some questions, the "strongest" investigator came in after knocking the door. The investigators in the room were surprised to see him and wondered about what brought him into the place.

"I'm so sorry, everyone," he bowed slightly. "I just want to say that the Bureau Director wanted to meet the interrogatee personally."

The investigators could only blinked. If Arima came personally to deliver the news, it meant that the matter was very important. Hearing the "good news" Mado was grinning while nudging Marude's hip.

"I'll take him to Mr. Washuu's room," the white-haired investigator continued. "And I want a person to escort him later after the meeting."

"What about Amon?" asked Shinohara.

"But he just…" said Marude.

"I think it's okay," Mado interjected. "He knows the kid better, so why not?"

The other investigators nodded. Marude could only shrug his shoulders. It seemed that luck always flew from him.

"It has been settled then," said Arima plainly. "Please tell Amon about this. I will wait outside."

Arima bowed and left the room. Marude plopped on his chair while some of his colleagues snickered.

"What?" asked Marude annoyed. "Do you think that I lost the bet? It's not about winning or losing, you know!"

* * *

The wall clock in CCG's main hall showed 11:27. Garou walked casually from the corridor together with some investigators. This time, his escort weren't the SWAT team.

The martial artist's lips curled up. He felt God's mercy finally rained upon him after – somewhat – his long suffering. After all, becoming a good lad and showed some respect toward people in this world was not painful. Instead it granted him a nice outcome. Now, he thought that transferred into another world perhaps was not really bad.

Back in the room when the Bureau Director had a talk with him, he tried to act as polite as he could. The middle-aged man looked interested by his story. Unlike the giant interrogator, the Director was very friendly, yet charismatic. The Director really relieved him from the boring session with Amon. Somewhat, he reminded Garou to the fatherly figure of Bang. In the end, just like what he thought earlier before interrogation, the Director offered him a place to stay because… CCG would need his "help." He was more than happy to accept the offer.

Now, the one who walked beside the former Hero Hunter was the escort earlier who brought him to the Director, Kishou Arima. Actually, Garou didn't know the identity of the investigators who walked with him. But he could judge that the very man beside him was a hero material, A-class at least.

The investigators accompanied him to the outside of the building. Unlike in the morning, there were only few armed guards. Most of the white-jacketed men were gone. They walked to a nearby parked SUV. His eyes then caught a looming figure in front of the vehicle. The hero-like investigator beside him said something to the giant.

"Investigator Amon," said Arima. "We will leave him to you. I've asked investigator Take Hirako to accompany you, just in case."

"Understood," replied Amon with a nod.

The giant then looked at him with stern look. Garou was mentally screaming. '_Please, not again_. _Why of all people, it must be this hulk?_'

* * *

**A/N**

Hello my dear readers.

I know that this chapter has no battle scene but I wish it will become the prelude to the battle-filled chapters to come. Moreover, I decided to choose Amon as Garou's partner. What kind of obstacle and problem our former Hero Hunter would face later? Let's see in the next chapter.

Hope you like my stories. Thank you so much for all your supports.

See you next time.


	3. Initiation and Performance

**Author's Note**

Hello, my dear readers. Thanks very much for all your supports. And… sorry for making you wait.

You are awesome… for real.

As usual, before we start the chapter, let me answer some Reviewers… for now, with a story…

* * *

A man was sitting on a wooden chair. The room he was in only illuminated by a light bulb above the table, a very typical room for interrogation. He wore a T-shirt with **zhoujianto12** on it. He looked very sleepy. Suddenly, his sleepiness gone completely when the door slammed open by a petite figure, dressed in casual cloth and… she has long green hair. She looked around late 20s, despite her short stature. Then, a very pale man who wore brown trench-coat and carried an axe entered the room after her.

"Zhou!" yelled the petite figure as she slammed a bundle of paper on the table. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Miss S-sen T-takatsuki..." the man stammered. "Th-this is-s my fic."

"Let me tell you," the petite woman continued. "Your fic is an utter trash!"

"P-please forgive me… I'm still an amateur."

"That's not an excuse. Well, in the last post, you **placed Bang in** **second rank**. Should I call Tatsumaki to fix this?!"

"Please forgive me… miss Takatsuki" replied the man. "I missed that because Amon's reaction really distracted me. But I have fixed that. I swear."

"_Baka_!" snapped Takatsuki. "Then, tell me about the **former Hero Hunter's encounter with little Fueguchi**!"

"I-I don't know… possibly he will meet Hinami in later chapters. Though I cannot guarantee that she will affect Garou's view toward ghoul, so there's also a possibility that Mado kills her mother."

"You follow the canon? That's not nice." Her expression softened after she let out a sigh. "By the way, some dudes asked me about **Rize** and **Arima.** Care to elaborate?"

"The former was Ken Kaneki's first love and the later was his mentor during his day in CCG," said Zhou as he seemed to regain his composure. "Ask him to read the manga or the wiki."

"I think he just teased you," she snorted as her right eye turned into _kakugan_. "Anyway, my friend complained about you. Why you choose Garou instead of my **beloved Zombieman**?" Takatsuki leaned closer to the pale man as he patted her shoulder while swinging his axe in playful manner.

"Yeah, dude. Why you choose that DAMN Hero Hunter instead of me?" asked Zombieman.

"Number 66," Zhou replied with low voice. "I've asked doctor Genus about you and he said that you won't fit in Sui Ishida's universe. You may survive, but you won't play a big role in the story."

Sen Takatsuki and Zombieman gasped after hearing the explanation. As a novelist, she admitted that Zombieman indeed lacked some quality to fuel the story. She felt sorry for him and could not blame Zhou either. The axe-wielder hero could only scowl after knowing Zhou's explanation, but conceded in the end.

"I see," said Zombieman. "Then, what **about Ken Kaneki**? And… why don't you put **Alex Mercer**?"

"Kaneki will become ghoul," replied Zhou plainly. "And about this Alex Mercer guy… Sorry. I don't know who he is."

"Hmm… Another question~. Will **Garou wield weapon**?" the green-haired lady inquired. "People think that it would be something cool if there ever existed a weaponless investigator."

"Bang never taught him the art of wielding weapon since Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist," Zhou gulped and took a breath after saying the name. "…is one among ultimate techniques in ONE-verse for killing monster. So, I think it would be cooler if Garou can wield weapon as additional skill. And, wouldn't it be much cooler if his quinque produced blue and red streaks when he attacked the Owl?"

Takatsuki was awe-struck by Zhou's explanation. Her expression turned into :-0 as her mind was imagining Garou who could channel Bang's and Bomb's techniques through a quinque. On the other hand, Zombieman who still had grudge on the martial artist could only nodding his head. But suddenly they had just realized the last name uttered by Zhou.

"Wait," halted Zombieman. "Did you mention Eto-_san_ as his target?"

"Oops…" muttered Zhou.

"DaAaMmNn iiiiitT," screamed the novelist as she started to unleash her _kakuja_ form. "aAmateurissH Wwriterr. II'LL EeAT YyoooUu!"

"Nice…" said Zombieman annoyed. "She goes berserk. Now… RUUUN!"

"NO NO NO…" Zhou screamed as Zombieman dragged him out from the chamber. "BEFORE THIS DOOM FALLS UPON ME, PLEASE… **LET ME THANK ALL MY DEAR READERS WHO HAVE SUPPORTED THIS STORY**."

"HEY!" yelled Zombieman. "KEEP RUNNING OR SHE WILL EAT US!"

The building they were in was torn-apart as the giant _kakuja_ emerged from it. The men were running as fast as they could.

"AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO," Zhou continued in his run. "HERE IS THE THIRD CHAPTER… UWAAAH…"

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| Initiation and Performance |

For the sake of "protecting the witness" and their future plans, CCG sent Garou to the Ghoul Investigator Training Academy. Located in 5th ward, it provided easy access from the headquarter and allowed CCG to monitor him.

On the day of his arrival to the academy, investigator Take Hirako took the martial artist to a short tour around the facility while Amon sorted some documents for Garou. Basically, the former Hero Hunter enjoyed the tour since Hirako also gave many information he needed about the place. He saw so many things he would never found, back in his world. A facility that specifically built to train people for some "hero job" was something strange. In his thought, perhaps Heroes Association would build that thing if his world were put into constant threat of god level disaster.

In the end of the tour, the helpful investigator guided Garou into his new living quarter in some sort of an apartment complex. It was a standard room for a cadet with a window and some simple furniture. It had a bathroom but without kitchen. For the former Hero Hunter, it was a luxury. Garou thanked Hirako after the tour as the investigator gave the key of the room and took his leave.

When the former Hero Hunter sorted his belongings in his abode, it had been late in the evening. He just realized how large the facility was. Only some outer parts of it could be explored until that evening. He felt somewhat… tired, so he rest his body on the bed. Just before he could close his eyes, he heard a knock on the door.

Annoying things always comes when we are tired. That's true for the martial artist at the time being. He got up and went to the door. His sharp senses could feel a familiar presence behind the door. To make sure, he asked the guest.

"Who's there?" asked the golden-eyed man.

"Amon," said the guest plainly.

Garou sighed. The hulk seemed to become a problem for his freedom. While grumbling, he opened the door.

"What?" Garou frowned.

"Sorry to bother you," said Amon. "I need to bring you these stuffs."

"Inside," said Garou.

The former Hero Hunter let the giant in. He saw Amon was bringing a big box. As Amon put the box and sat down, Garou also plopped down. He thought that the contents were additional furniture or some cloths. When Amon opened the box, his guess was right but there were more. He widen his eyes as the giant took out a stack of books and some set of uniforms. To his horror, he was offered a free place to stay but as the retribution, he must attend a school. The memories of being bullied when he was in elementary school flooded his mind. '_No, no, no! This must be kidding, right?_' screamed Garou in his mind.

"Garou-_kun_," said Amon.

"Heh?" the martial artist gasped when hearing the call.

"These are the things for a new cadet," continued Amon as he took out another stacks of books and papers. "I think investigator Hirako has explained some basic rules abut being a cadet. If you need more info, you can read these manuals."

"I come here just to stay," Garou protested. "Who the hell ask me to become a student?"

"It's CCG's decision," replied Amon with stern look. "If you want to protest, then ask the Director! I'm just doing orders."

"But…" Garou raised his arms in an annoyed manner.

"You should be grateful!" the giant interjected with a slight anger in his tone. "If not because of his courtesy, I bet that now you are a homeless man."

Garou could not deny the fact that the luxury he got now was none other than the gift from Yoshitoki Washuu and CCG. On the other hand, he could not shrug his bad experience with school. Yet, the consequence would be severe if he ran or took action against this offer. Not because he feared of being chased or live as a wanderer, but because he didn't want to harm their trust in him. Being a fugitive and kicked into a world where people considered him as a hero was a true miracle. Thus, acting against it was not a good idea.

"Fine…" said Garou, followed by a sigh. "Then, what should I do?"

"Tomorrow, there will be a physical examination. It's a requirement for everyone who wants to attend the academy. Come to the orange building near the stadium. Registration will open at 8 a.m."

"Do you mean the gymnastic section?" asked the golden-eyed man.

"Yes. And don't forget to bring this," said the hulk while taking out some papers.

"An application form?" Garou's squinted his eyes.

"Precisely," replied Amon as he handed the paper.

"Why it has been filled? Should the one who fill this is me?"

"Tsk," Amon clicked his tongue. "This is an extraordinary case. Just follow it and thank CCG later because you just need to take the physical exam."

"Hmm… then what should I wear?"

"Just wear the white shirt and black pants."

"Anything else?" asked Garou while he skimmed through the papers.

"Now, choose a name," said Amon as he handed an envelope.

Garou opened the envelope to take out a folded paper. He and saw three names on it. '_Kotsuhiko, Tomoyuki, Mitsuhide…_' Garou mused. '_Which one will I choose?_'

"Do people here always have two names?" asked the former Hero Hunter.

"They do," replied Amon. "So, choose one. Or… do you have any other idea for your new name?"

"No," replied Garou as he rubbed his chin. "I think… I'll choose Kotsuhiko."

"Then you can write it on the form."

"Okay," said Garou as he took a pen from Amon.

Somewhat, the martial artist felt happy when writing his new name as addition to his old one. He didn't know why but a strange feeling of joy rose inside his heart. Strangely, his annoyance toward Amon also withered which made him thought that perhaps, the hulk was actually a nice guy. A new idea then sparked in Garou's mind.

"Okay. Investigator Koutarou Amon," said the former Hero Hunter in formal manner which garnered the giant's attention. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Kotsuhiko Garou." The martial artist offered his hand toward Amon.

Amon was surprised. In his thought, perhaps Garou was joking. But when Amon saw the demon's face, his doubts gone. He saw a genuine smile. He smiled in response and took Garou's hand. They made a handshake. Just like Garou, his annoyed feeling toward the demon somewhat flushed away.

"I'm looking forward to our cooperation," replied Amon.

"Same as you, Amon_-san_" said the martial artist as they pulled their hands.

Though brief, their handshake marked their new relationship as friends. Friends who will help each other in needs.

* * *

To warm their friendship, Amon thought that it would be a nice idea to have dinner with Garou. Having dinner together was some kind of tradition among investigators to welcome a new member or as a way to relief some stress with old friend.

"Okay," said Amon as he stood. "Anyway, do you want to have dinner?"

"Hmm, I don't think so," replied Garou. "Thanks very much."

Just when the golden-eyed man reached the stacks of books and going to stand, his belly made a loud rumbling sound. Amon snorted while Garou's jaw dropped. He just remembered that during the tour, investigator Hirako offered him to have _udon_ for lunch. But he refused and took some snacks which barely satisfied his hunger.

"Ugh… sorry. I think you are right."

"Then, let's go," said the hulk. "You can sort them later, right?"

"Yeah," Garou nodded. "Wait. Let me take my wallet."

When the martial artist came to take his wallet from his bag, the giant investigator quietly watched the demon. His eyes widen when Garou took some weird currency from the bag. Curious, he decided to take a closer look.

"Garou_-kun_, actually you don't need to pay," said Amon as his eyes directed toward the money on the martial artist's hand. "I'll treat you later."

"Really?"

"Yeah," replied Amon while his eyes still directed toward Garou's money.

"Wow. Thanks a bunch, Amon_-san_. But is there something wrong with my hand?"

"Umm… actually, I haven't seen that currency. Can I take a look?"

"Sure."

Amon scrutinized when he saw Garou's money. It was Yen, but the design was very different from the existing Japanese Yen. Yet it looked very legitimate. Now, he started to doubt that the demon was just a weirdo. Possibility that the martial artist really came from another dimension started to haunt Amon which sent shiver down his spine.

"Sorry. The currency here is different," said Amon as he gave back Garou's money and showed a 5,000 JPY from his jacket. "The Yen here is like this."

"I see…" said the former Hero Hunter as he put the money in his pocket.

"But don't worry. I'll treat you."

"Okay. Shall we go."

"Let's go."

* * *

Amon decided to take Garou to a restaurant outside the facility. He did so because at night, the cafeteria in the academy only provided small variety of meal. Based on his experience, dinner in the academy was not tasteful. Beside, this would become opportunity for him to know Garou and familiarize him with Tokyo. Before they went out from the academy complex, Amon had contacted some investigators as a precaution if anything went wrong. He also didn't forget to bring his white luggage. After all, he was taking a stroll with a "special witness." To his relief, the local branch sent investigator Kousuke Houji to accompany him. They met near the gate. He came alone, looked very calm, wearing formal attire and carrying a silver trunk like Amon.

"Investigator Houji," greeted Amon as he bowed.

"Investigator Amon," greeted Houji as he did the same.

"It has been a while," said Amon.

"Indeed," replied Houji as his gaze directed to the silver-haired man. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, as usual," replied Amon as he smiled.

"And you are…" Houji paused, trying to guess who was Amon's companion.

"Kotsuhiko Garou," said the martial artist as he bowed. "It's an honor to meet you."

Truth be said, Houji who happened to be Kureo Mado's former apprentice was impressed by Garou. He could not discern what quality which made him impressed but Amon's new pal looked like a "fighter." During the interrogation that day, he was still busied by piling up reports from 6th ward branch. He only heard that CCG would bring a very special witness of the last night incident to the headquarter. And now, the said witness is standing in front of him.

"Kousuke Houji," said the investigator as he bowed. "Nice to meet you, Garou_-kun_."

"By the way," said Amon. "We are going for a dinner. Would you like to join?"

"Sounds nice," replied Houji. "Where are we going?"

"The one near Watanabe Street," replied Amon.

"Hmm… I really miss the _udon_," said Houji as he took his pace.

"Well, what do you like, Garou_-kun_?" asked Amon as he trailed behind Houji.

"Anything that can fill my stomach," Garou deadpanned as he walked beside the giant.

"Ha, that's a nice joke," said Amon, followed by his chuckle and Houji's.

"Hey, I'm serious."

* * *

The three had finally arrived at their destination. The aroma of delicious cuisines filled their noses once they entered the door. The place provided Japanese foods, which strangely enough, Garou could find all of them back in his world. The place was cozy and there weren't many customers. The three chose a table near the counter. The martial artist's eye scanned around the place and found an interesting thing. '_Oh, wow_,' thought the martial artist. '_… 200k for monster_ _udon and 100k for super-hot curry challenges? What a fabulous prize?_"

A waitress came to their table and greeted them as she offered a list of menus.

"First packet, please," said Amon as he handed the list to Houji. "What about you, investigator Houji?"

"Oh, I forgot that you really like _tempura_," said Houji as he glanced at the list. "Okay, medium portion _udon_ and ice tea, please."

"Garou_-kun_?" asked Amon while in the background, the waitress scribbled the orders on her notebook.

"Is it okay If I take those challenges?" asked Garou as he pointed his finger to a banner in front of the counter.

"Oi, Garou!" snapped Amon "Are you crazy?!

Houji and the waitress could only stare at the golden-eyed man. Taking a challenge was something impossible for a person. And this man would take two of them at a time? That was an utter nonsense. But he don't mind.

"It's okay, right?" Garou asked with a shrug. "Oh yeah. And a jumbo glass of soda, please."

Hesitantly, the waitress then nodded and wrote Garou's order.

Amon could only face-palmed while Houji seemed to shrug it off. For Amon, Shinohara's joke seemed to become a curse for him since he must babysit a demon. It hadn't been a day and just after he made a "new pact" with the demon, his head hurt really much. For Houji who always showed calm demeanor, a young man like Garou who took a challenge was nothing wrong. It's legal and perhaps it's his way to express his humor.

"Amon, Garou is just taking a challenge. It's not a big deal, right?" asked Houji as his friendly face directed toward the giant.

"But I think that's too much," argued the giant. "At least he must put a decency."

Garou who felt being defended by Houji only made a solemn expression. But inside, his annoyed feeling toward the hulk rose again though he had just made a good terms. To wash his negative thought, he walked toward the nearest shelf and took some magazines.

"Amon…" Houji paused after he uttered the name as the other looked at him. "Do you know why investigator Mado never fails in his investigations?"

Amon could only directed his pupils toward the ceiling. He was thinking about Houji's question. He could not find the answer but decided to speak what he could grab from his memory.

"Diligence…" replied Amon with uncertainty in his voice.

"Wrong." Houji said as his finger tapped the table. "It's patience."

"Patience…?"

"Yes," answered Houji. "Especially his patience when dealing with people."

Amon widen his eyes when he realized the fact about the hunch-backed investigator. He also remembered that during his early years of his apprenticeship under Mado, the senior investigator never scolded him. Every time he made a mistake, Mado smiled and gave him some useful advice in return.

"I see… I never know about that."

"It's okay. Just take it easy, Amon. Don't scold him." Houji said as he looked at the golden-eyed man's back who was reading some brochures. "Give him chance to learn."

"Hmm, okay," Amon nodded. "Please, let me try."

* * *

Silence. That's the current situation when they waited their meal. Amon was writing something in his notebook while Houji was replying some text messages. Garou who had sat down was reading some magazines and brochures he took earlier. No more than five minutes later, their meals came, brought by two waitresses. One brought Amon's and Houji's while the other carried the challenge packets. The challenge carrier seemed a little bit in trouble when bringing them to the table, so the martial artist took the packets by himself. The waitress seemed flustered when a customer, whom by chance was around her age, helped her. Unbeknownst to Garou, his mercy worked like a charm. After he helped her, she quickly used the empty tray to hide her blushing cheeks and ran back to her post, leaving behind her fellow waitress. Amon and Houji only took a glance at each other and thanked the remaining waitress as she bowed. Garou who didn't realize what had happened licked his lips. What he thought was finally, 'The Feast is On.'

"_Itedekimasu!_" said the three as Amon and Houji took their chopsticks while Garou took his spoon.

When Amon sipped his ice tea and Houji started to slurp his _udon_, Garou had chomped down nearly half of his super-hot curry and rice. The two investigators almost choked. They never knew that the special witness was a hungry beast. They gawked at him for another minute and they could see he finished the infernal dish without flinching. Some other customers also started to look at him. Both Amon and Houji were speechless, and the main spectacle was going to start.

"Mom… look!" said a little girl to her mother. "The old man over there is going to eat monster _udon_."

"He takes the challenge?!" said a high school boy.

"For real?"

"He must be crazy!" uttered a salaryman.

"Is he a monster?"

People started to take photos and videos. Going out for some minutes, Garou had become a rising celebrity. To lighten his headache, Amon took his first bite as Houji continued to slurp his meal. They seem to ignore Garou in the end because their hunger won't let them take a look longer at him. Garou who didn't really care with the surrounding took the chopsticks and started his feast.

Soon, the spectators' jaws dropped, their eyes widen as big as their plates. They could not believe that there existed a human who could munch down monster _udon_ portion at light-speed. Three minutes hadn't passed but the silver-haired man had drained half of the bowl's content. Amon took some glances between his bites to make sure that his eyes didn't deceive him. Unfortunately, it was real. A minute later, Garou gulped the remaining content of his bowl. Knowing the challenger won, people gave applause. Amon still savoring his tempura with tomato sauce while Houji looked at Garou and gave a thumbs-up.

"Congratulation, Garou_-kun_," said Houji.

"Oh," uttered the former Hero Hunter as his lips formed a smile of satisfaction. "Thanks."

"You… really are a monster!" said the hulk after he swallowed his food while pointing his chopsticks to Garou.

"Perhaps I am." The martial artist responded nonchalantly as his hand reached the jumbo glass of soda.

"Amon!" warned Houji as he frowned at the other.

Amon let out a sigh. It's still very hard for him to understand Houji's golden words. Amon's discipline still could not tolerate Garou's antics. His mind was screaming as he was finishing his food. To add his irk, some customers were coming to Garou to ask for some photograph. Amon really wanted to pull his own hair. while Houji went along with it and continued to enjoy his meal.

* * *

"You become a one-night celebrity and rake in enough fortune," said Amon cynically.

"Sorry. I don't want to ditch your kind offer," replied the martial artist with a shrug. "Yet, I saw a good deal. I just need something really big to replenish but I get more than that."

"It's okay, Garo_-kun_," said Houji, followed by a light chuckle. "But next time, just choose an hour where there are fewer customers."

"Okay." the martial artist nodded as the giant looked at him with sour face.

Currently, they were on their way to the end of 5th ward area to meet some CCG investigators from 6th ward branch. They met because Houji needed to hand in his papers regarding the raising of predation case in 6th ward.

Amon and Houji who had reported their activity with the special witness had been given a very weird order as soon as they came out from the restaurant. Instead of escorting back Garou to the academy, the headquarter gave an order to let him join Houji and Amon. They could not understand the logic behind the decision but since it was a directive, they did it no matter how odd it was. Was it a kind of test? They didn't know.

During their walk toward the destination, Garou felt that it was the right time to ask something he needed to know about the monster in this world. He asked Houji since he knew that the sympathetic investigator was Amon's senior.

"Investigator Houji," said Garou. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," replied Houji as Amon walked casually behind him. "What is it?"

"Why ghoul has extra appendages?"

Sweat beads formed on Amon's face. He feared that the demon would ask sensitive information regarding Jason. Meanwhile, Houji stopped his pace to turn at Garou. Garou also stopped in response. Houji stopped because he tried hard to grasp Garou's term. Finally, he got the idea and referred it as basic concept of _kagune_. Houji then tried to make simple explanations.

"The extra appendages…" said Houji. "They are called _kagune_. They function as ghoul's natural weapon."

"Natural weapon?" inquired Garou. "Is it something like antibody in blood?"

"Well… What we know so far is they function as a defensive mechanism," replied Houji.

"I see…" said the golden-eyed man as he nodded his head. "What about the form? So far, I only saw tentacle-looked like _kagune_."

Knowing the questions, Amon felt relieved. But seeing curious Garou made him wanted to cut the conversation. In his thought, a civilian needed to learn those things from the basic. Sending Garou to the academy was the best way to make him study the ghoul-stuffs without bothering Houji's precious time. But it seemed that Houji kept spoiling the demon with every information he wanted. Again, Amon's discipline almost consumed his patience. Fortunately, Houji's advice emerged in his mind, preventing his raging irk from leaking out. And again, he let out a sigh.

"Actually, there are four forms of _kagune_," continued Houji. "I believe what you saw was _rinkaku_ type. The other three are _ukaku_, _koukaku_, and _bikaku_."

"What are the discernible features of those three?"

"_Ukaku_ usually takes the form of wings, _koukaku_ has shapes like blade while _bikaku_ looked like tail."

"Hoh, I see…" responded Garou. "Does the academy provide books about these _kagune_s?"

"Of course." Amon chimed in. "You can find them in the library."

"Hmm, interesting," said the martial artist while nodding his head. "Thanks for the info, investigator Houji and Amon_-san_~."

"You are welcome," replied Houji with a hearty smile.

"Well, you don't need to thank me," replied the giant with a shrug.

"Oh, it seems that Amon is jealous," teased Houji, half whispering.

"Yeah, he can't accept the fact that I can become a celeb in one night."

"HEY! I'm not jealous," yelled the giant as Houji and Garou let out a chuckle.

* * *

Around five minutes after the short lecturing about _kagune_, the three arrived at the rendezvous point. It was a small city park which was very quiet. When they came, three men and a woman with formal suits had been waiting near a bench. They stood and bowed toward the three. The three also bowed in response. Houji handed his papers to the 6th ward branch representatives as they spoke about the situation in the area. From what Garou could hear, recently, ghouls in 6th ward had become more violent. They attacked people more frequently during this month. The martial artist was wondering if Rize had any connection with the phenomenon. Suddenly, their information exchange session aborted by a scream of a lady. Houji instructed Amon and two other investigators to join him to check it. As of the other two, they remained at the park with Garou.

"Garou, stay here!" warned Amon.

"Okay…" said the former Hero Hunter with reluctance in his tone.

Garou could only looked at Houji and his team as they ran toward building complex about two blocks away. Now, he sat down on the nearest bench as the remaining investigators called CCG through their phones. He had a hunch that Houji's team would face the aforementioned predation case this time. '_Should the situation get sticky, I will catch up with them,_' thought the martial artist.

A moment later, he heard gunfire. Garou thought that Houji's team engaged their enemies only with gun. He hadn't knew that Houji's and Amon's trunks contained special weapons which soon enough, he would see. His musings stopped when he saw five silhouettes running toward the park. His battle instinct was kicking as he saw gleams of _kagunes_ of the incoming figures. Just like Yamori, they covered their faces with mask.

"We got uninvited guests," warned Garou as he stood and made a stance.

"What?" uttered the female investigator as she switched her stare toward Garou's place.

"Ayame-_chan_, get ready!" commanded the male investigator. "Kid, take cover!"

"Take cover?" uttered Garou as he turned his head toward the investigators. "For what?"

Garou's piercing golden eyes made the investigators shivered. His face turned into demonic one. Their hands were shaking when they reached their gun holsters. The martial artist's terrifying look was just the opening of the show. A weird force emanated from the golden-eyed man held back the investigators from taking any further action. The next moment, his show would reset their minds about the definition of fear.

Garou lunged himself when the ghouls passed the lamppost near the bend of the road. Two of his opponents were _koukaku_ users while the others didn't show their _kagunes_. Under the light of the lamp, they started to gang up the martial artist. Several meters away, the two investigators were still trying to digest what was happening.

The former Hero Hunter must act quickly since possibly, Amon and Houji were facing difficulties. As two ghouls tried to slash him from his sides, he jumped backward. While in the air, he kicked the nearest ghoul onto the course of the slashes. When the _koukaku_ users finished their turn, they had just realized that they killed their fellow. Garou who had landed behind the downed ghoul dashed forward and used their shocked state to beat them using Bang's technique. His flurry of punches turned them into pulp, literally.

Horrified, the remaining two ghouls ran. To Garou's favor, they ran in line. This turn, he took the chance to eliminate them using Bomb's technique. The whirling air bored through the first ghoul and then the second one in front. Before they fell down, the bewildered investigators could see the light from the lamp went through the perfectly circular holes on of the ghouls' chests. As they fell, there remained only one figure in the middle of the corpses. The two trembling investigators could only hung their jaws when seeing the martial artist. He then ran toward them to say something.

"Please make sure they're dead," said the former Hero Hunter while holding a mask in his hand. "I need to catch up with investigator Houji and Amon."

"U-u-understood," said the investigators with quivering lips.

"Oh yeah… thanks for accompanying me. See you," said the martial artist as he ran toward Houji's team direction.

The investigators took a glance at each other. That night, they got a very special performance which only existed in movie and manga. Their logic seemed challenged by the fact that there was a man who could beat five… possibly rate C… ghouls in less than five minutes. Without weapon, no less.

"Ayame-_chan_, what do you think was t-that?" asked the male investigator as he stared at the corpses.

"Haru, d-don't ask me about t-that," said his female friend as she crossed her arms like a chilled person. "I'm scared!"

* * *

In the meantime, in a parking lot two blocks away from the park, Houji's team was engaging three ghouls. Judging from their _kagune_ size and their mastery to wield it, they would be categorized as rate B. But they had good teamwork which made Houji, Amon, and the 6th ward branch investigators forced into defensive. The shifts of attacks between the _koukaku,_ _bikaku_, and _ukaku_ users were excellent, leaving no opening for Houji's team to strike. It seemed that the ghouls they faced this time were trained very well. To make matter worse, the ghouls took the lady who screamed earlier as hostage and the 6th ward branch investigators only wield standard handguns which unfortunately, nearly running out of ammo. Houji who wield a special halberd and Amon with his off-looking club were their only hope at the moment. They didn't know that the predation case also reaching 5th ward. Waiting for reinforcement from local branch was not a good choice since a civilian was in danger. Thus, they kept fighting while waiting. But it seemed that the "reinforcement" came too early.

Upon arriving at the place, the martial artist saw Amon and Houji were fighting against two ghouls. These ghouls' _kagune_s matched with Houji's explanation. He also saw one more ghoul who stood in front of a cowering lady. From what he could see, he noticed that the investigators were having a hard time. The ghouls were retreating back when Garou came closer to the investigators. Possibly to plan a new strategy.

"Yo," greeted Garou as he ran toward the group.

"Garou?!" said Amon in disbelief.

"Garou_-kun_! What happened?" asked Houji in bewilderment with concern in his tone.

"Well," said Garou sheepishly as he showed a mask. "Some ghouls tried to pass through the park. Then I beat them."

Houji and Amon widen their eyes. They could not believe what was spoken by the martial artist.

"Are you wounded?" asked Houji as he looked at Garou's bloodstained shirt. "We should retreat if possible."

"What about the other investigators?" inquired a 6th ward branch member as he grabbed and shook Garou's shoulders in panic.

"Don't worry," Garou assured with small smile as he let loose the man's grab. "They are okay. And we don't get any single injury."

"Does that mean…?" uttered Amon as he switched his gaze from Garou to the ghouls in front of them.

"This is ghoul's blood," replied Garou with poker face.

The three ghouls who were watching the new figure gritted their teeth. They could not accept the fact that their comrades sent to aid them in the battle were decimated. The man who took the mask really made them infuriated. Their blood and RC-cells were boiling and burst in the form of spirit to revenge their fallen friends. Their _kakugan_ were burning with rage. Whoever he was, they would kill him.

"How dare you…!" screamed the _koukaku_ user.

"Damn You!" the _bikaku_ user shrieked.

"HAAARGH!" The _ukaku_ user roared as he jumped, sending RC-cell projectiles toward Garou and the group.

"GAROU!" shouted Amon. "Take cover!"

Instead of obeying the giant, Garou tossed the mask and braced himself for the second round. He faced the incoming RC-cell shards as if it was nothing. What Houji's team saw later was something that defied their logic. The martial artist's arms turned into blur and all the shards were deflected.

As the embedded shards on the asphalt were evaporating, the _koukaku_ user took his turn to strike. He lunged himself toward Garou to slash him. Effortlessly, the martial artist dodged all the slashes which made the attacker went crazier. When the _bikaku_ user came to help her frenzied friend, Garou punched the _koukaku_ user's arm to redirect the slash toward the female ghoul. Garou's indirect attack managed to injure her. She tumbled on the ground, holding her wounded stomach. The _koukaku_ user was stunned, leaving him wide open for the martial artist to attack. Garou lowered his body and grabbed both legs of the ghoul. The golden-eyed man pulled and slammed the ghoul onto the ground. He slammed the _koukaku_ user's body so hard that it turned into bloody paste and broken bones.

Amon and the others gasped at the display of effectiveness and gruesomeness presented by the man before them. Garou had showed his quality as a martial artist and bloody killer at the same time. Amon could not find any explanation regarding Garou's inhuman ability. Houji himself was also at lost to understand the sight before him. Like some moments prior in the park, the spectators were speechless.

"Taku…" muttered the _bikaku_ user as she tried to stand on her feet.

"No… NO!" The _ukaku_ user roared as he flew toward Garou.

The next barrage of RC-cell projectiles hurled toward the martial artist. This time, he ran to dodge the shards instead of deflecting them. He ran and jumped around to confuse the winged ghoul. The _ukaku_ user thought that his opponent aimed him so he flew further from the arena. But he miscalculated and the effect was fatal. His female companion who was still wounded left undefended. He was tricked by the martial artist's tactic.

The _bikaku_ user whipped around her _kagune_ frantically to ward off the incoming attacker. Her effort proved futile as she felt her tail-like _kagune_ shredded by the man's bare hands or… something flowed from them. In an eye-blink, a sharp pain struck her neck. Her consciousness slipped as darkness filled her vision.

The flying ghoul could not believe the death of his last companion. To avenge his fellow, he tried to chase the martial artist. But it was too late. Garou had stood near a sewer lid. Like his tactic against Metal Bat, he stomped his feet, cracking the asphalt around and made the metal disc levitated at the same time. He crouched to aim for the flying ghoul and sent a strong punch to the lid. The spinning metal disc turned into a flying blade which tore the midsection of the enraged _ukaku_ user, who didn't have time to take maneuver. The ghoul fell to the ground as his _kagune_ faded. As his soul was exiting his body, what he could saw was blurry image of a standing silver-haired demon.

"M-master… Shachi," muttered the ghoul as he drew his last breath. "…for-give… me."

* * *

Houji, Amon and another investigator froze while the other one vomited. The hostage fainted soon after Garou finished the fight. They could not bear the result of Garou's intervention. They must admit that he is indeed very professional. But they could not shrug the stomach-churning sensation when seeing his bizarrely brutal way in killing ghouls. And the the remnants of his fight was more nightmarish.

Aside from the gruesome display, the golden-eyed man ability was an enigma. In the eyes of experienced investigators like Houji, Garou's moves was none other than a result of routine and intense training. He put aside supernatural factor like magic. Thus, what he believed was the golden-eyed demon had undergone insane training. Yet, he needed to learn more about how Garou could acquire the unusual skill in such young age.

"Garou…" muttered Amon.

"What's wrong, Amon?" asked Houji who was looking at the corpses.

"Was that real? I mean… how he can do that?"

"That's something that I want to know," replied Houji.

Currently, Garou who had just finished his second round came to check the hostage. She was only fainted and there was no sign of injury. As he sighed of relief, the investigators came toward him.

"She's okay," said the martial artist while crouching.

"Garou-kun…" uttered Houji.

Houji wanted to ask something but it seemed that his question should wait for another time since the reinforcement had come. Three police cars and a CCG SUV made their way to the parking lot. As they came to stop, the people on the scene could see some policemen came out from the cars. The door of the SUV slid open, revealing a figure of an investigator with drooped shoulders and stringy hair.

"Investigator Mado," said Houji's team as they bowed slightly toward the man.

"Good evening everyone," greeted the hunch-backed investigator as he got out from the SUV while carrying a trunk. "Did I miss the party?"

"I'm afraid you did," replied Houji as Mado looked at the surrounding.

As the cops were carrying the fainted lady and taking some on-scene photographs, Mado squinted his left eye while the other one widened as he noticed the slaughtered ghouls. Instead of horrified, he found that the scene was fascinating. His widened eye then met with the golden eyes, whose owner was the artist of the "fascinating" piece of art.

"Oh, hello young man," greeted Mado as he walked toward the silver haired demon to offer his hand. "You must be…"

The martial artist took Mado's gloved hand and replied, "Kotsuhiko Garou."

* * *

**A/N**

Well… that's the third chapter. How do you think?

Please don't hesitate to point out any mistake. And also, leave your comment and review. ;-)

I'm also open for discussion… just send me PM… :-)

"Your ideas are very useful in order to upgrade this writer~," whispered Sen Takatsuki as she snickered. "By the way, what will you do in the next chapter?"

"Zhou hadn't told me anything," replied Garou. "But I think, I will do something fun~. Woohoo!"

Hope you like my story. Thank you so much for all your supports.

See you next time.


	4. Stranger Thing

**Author's Note**

Hello, my dear readers. Thanks very much for all your supports. And… sorry for making you wait.

You are awesome… for real.

* * *

Response for some Guest Reviewers

1\. About Garou and Hinami  
I don't know how to answer this, but I think one day they will meet. Though CCG circle will affect Garou the most.

2\. "Like this story… please continue… keep up the good work, etc…"  
Thank you very much my dear readers! Your supports and constructive ideas would be very useful in the days to come. :-D

Without further ado, let's begin.

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| Stranger Thing |

…

"_Then, let me show you some bit of how serious I can be! SERIOUS TABLE FLIP!"_

Then, it was dark. He could hear voices of men. But they sounded like murmuring. The situation was unnerving. Finally, he could hear some familiar voices.

"_I will eliminate you!"_

'_Demon Cyborg?'_

"_Long time no see, Garou!"_

'_That old geezer?'_

"_You? The symbol of fear? HAHAHA"_

'_That flying chicken?'_

Those three were among discernable voices his ear could catch. Slightly, threads of light filling his vision. It was blinding at first. When his eyes were starting to grab the image of the surrounding, the voice of the man who sent him to the darkness came back.

"_What you really wanted to be was a hero. You decided to be a monster."_

He couldn't see the man, but he felt the man who said so was snickering. Strangely, he didn't feel irked. Instead, he expected a dreadful omen.

His vision got clearer and what he saw was something surreal. It was the place he recently visited. The CCG headquarter. But it had been turned until it looked like Heroes Association's buildings.

'_This is Tokyo right? Does Metal Knight come here?'_

He looked around and saw that the situation was chaotic. People were running from something. Policemen and armed guards were opening fire. Investigators carrying trunks and blades were heading toward a junction. When he followed them and looked at what they tried to attack, his heart skipped a beat. Instead of ghouls, there were monsters like what he saw in his world. There were hundreds of them, marching toward the headquarter. The men who engaged them were annihilated in seconds. They could not stand a chance against the abominations, ranged from tiger to dragon level threat. It was so pathetic.

Then the earth quaked. When he moved his face back toward the headquarter, it was reduced into ruin.

"_To bring about world peace, you took the easy route, thinking a monster's job was quicker and easier than a hero's."_

The words from the hero echoed in his head. He could see more people fell victim to the monsters' atrocity. It was sickening. And the fact that he could do nothing at the moment terrified him even more.

"_It's perfect for someone with no confidence like you."_

'_Please… make it stop!'_

He felt tortured. He begged. But it wouldn't stop.

"_It was a mistake to lower the hurdle right before the goal."_

More civilians… men, women, children, slain by the evil force as they made their run.

'_Stop… please, stop!'_

Tears began flowing down his cheeks. He turned and ran toward a clearing near the ruin of the headquarter. He saw many bodies on the ground. He arrived at the place and saw a familiar figure, lying. The man seemed to be only knocked out. He came and shook the man.

"A-amon… Amon-_san_!"

The man opened his eyes and whispered something to Garou.

"_A half-assed objective can't succeed."_

Shocked, he jumped back in response. When he looked to his side, he saw another man he knew. The man was smiling sincerely, despite the chaos around. It was as if he didn't care with the situation.

"Garou-_kun_," greeted the man. "On behalf of CCG, I would like to thank you."

"Mister Washuu…?"

"We are looking forward to your help." Said the smiling man as his face contorted into a familiar dopey face. _"What will you do next?"_

The ground was shaking violently as the Bureau Director closed his lips. Garou lost his footing as a certain grotesque hundreds-legged purple creature rushed its way out from the ground. When he looked at Amon and Washuu, they had vanished.

"YOU ARE MERELY A FAILURE!" The enormous centipede asked him with shrill voice. A pure hate in his tone. "HUMAN ACTING AS MONSTER TO ACHIEVE PEACE AND SYMBOL OF FEAR TOGETHER? THAT'S AN UTTER DELUSION!"

He could not say a single word. The statement seemed to stab him deep into his chest. He realized that Caped Baldy's words was right. And now the abomination before him made Saitama's message much clearer. It also questioned his new goal.

"SERVING A NEW PURPOSE!? NOW, TURNING AS A HERO, HUH!" Elder Centipede shrieked as its saber-fangs met and clanged while its antennae lashing around. "HYPOCRITE… DIE!"

"NO, NO, NOOOO…"

Garou roared as the gargantuan rushed to him.

* * *

Garou got up from his slumber, panting heavily. Sweat trickled down his face. The fuzzy scene from his bad dream still lingered in his mind. But, knowing that he is awake, his mind came to ease.

"A nightmare…" muttered the martial artist as he looked at the clock. It was still 5:30 in the morning. He crawled from his bed to open the window. As the fresh air filled his room, he inhaled it and let out a his breath.

The martial artist got out from his bed and looked at the table. There was a piece of paper on it which appeared to be a schedule. '_PE, Ghoul Countermeasure Basics, Japanese Literary…_' mused the golden-eyed man. '_Sound's fun. And I've done the assignments. Which means… I can have the rest of the day for… extra exercise maybe?_'

It had been a week after his enrollment and his second "fight" against ghouls. Unlike what he had expected, the school life was pleasant. No bullies, no "Tacchan," and no teacher who supported Tacchan. His classmates and teachers were good people. To add his gratitude toward CCG, he got a full scholarship. All in all, it was a bliss.

Although Garou never attended middle school, being a quick learner and prodigy he was, learning materials which basically for high-schooler and college student weren't a problem for him. Also, there were more majors which involved physical activities. Something that the martial artist excelled and really liked.

'_Okay… Kotsuhiko-kun, don't slack. Time for workout._' The former Hero Hunter reminded himself as he went to the bathroom.

His new routine slowly made his grief after his lost cause against heroes faded away. Enjoyment and freedom was what he felt at the moment. He felt that living in this new world was a blessing. Though deep down, he was still wondering whether he could come back, someday.

* * *

After getting up and did some business, Garou's morning activity usually started with some extreme workouts. His training regimens were push-ups with a broken car engine on his back, squat-jumps while lifting the metal thing, and sit-ups while hung upside-down under a tree branch. He did that 200 times at least, each. The special workout then followed by vertical run in a 20-stories defunct building, up and down, 10 times. To complete his daily training, he practiced the Water Flowing Rock Smashing and the Whirlwind Iron Cutting techniques after his vertical run. His regimens took around an hour.

The question was, how he could obtain the metal junk and use the abandoned CCG's property in the complex? It was none other than the courtesy of investigator Yukonori Shinohara and his fellow investigators who showed Garou the place. In the past, senior investigators used it as a training ground. But it was abandoned as a new one with more complete equipment was built in the 4th ward, ten years prior. Though the place looked deserted, it provided more than what the martial artist would demand. Because what he needed was only a very quiet place to train. And so far, no one ever bothered him during his workout session.

After he finished his daily workout, he went back to his abode to take a bath and prepare for school activity. He would have his breakfast at the nearest canteen from the building where the learning activity took place. The class usually started at 7:30 and finished at 16:00. Basically, it was like highschool he found in his world with five school days in a week. Every Saturday and Sunday, there were facultative courses and club activities. The martial artist took karate and _kendo_, since he was interested to learn and compare martial arts from this world.

About the learning atmosphere, Garou didn't find any difficulty and adapted with the new circumstances pretty quickly. Though he hadn't made any friend, his classmates were well-behaved people. Was it because he looked creepy so that people kept their distance? He was still wondering about it. But the fact that there were some who interacted with him proved that _perhaps_ he was not that scary. His side as a human which was once, shrouded by the goal to become the symbol of fear slowly faded away.

* * *

While the golden-eyed man was starting his daily routine in the academy, back in the main headquarter, Kishou Arima was deep in thought. The golden ray of the sun was entering his office from the eastern side glass windows, illuminating the papers on his hands. The newly acquired investigation reports from the Tokyo Police Department and CCG regarding the Aqua Tower accident was the document he read at the moment. Based on the testimony from the guards who became victims and also witnessed the event, their attacker was a female ghoul. Her presence was evidenced by some strands of her hair and blood on the deck.

His mind deduced one conclusion. She was the rumored Binge Eater. The way she preyed on the guards matched the pattern of her usual feasts. The difference that night, there was a very intriguing individual who stopped her. But she managed to escape when the said individual engaged Jason. Binge Eater would still become a homework for CCG.

Aside from Binge Eater, there was still one thing that confused him. Instead of Jason, it was the one who engaged the fugitive in the first place. The said individual or the "special witness" was indeed really intriguing. His mind at the present time ruminating the first meeting with the man when he escorted him. Arima could feel that there was something off from the man.

His mind then wandered back to his conversation with Yoshitoki after the special witness had gone.

…

"_What did you say to him, Chika-san?"_ asked the white haired investigator.

"_Well… only some motivation and our goal as the peace-keeper,"_ replied the Director as he leaned on his chair.

"_I see…"_ Arima nodded. _"Anything about ghoul?"_

"_I only said that they are monster,"_ answered Yoshitoki as he looked back to the dossier of Garou with content smile on his face.

…

No more than 12 hours after the meeting, the special witness showed his special feats again. Based on the reports, both the Aqua Tower and the one from Kousuke Houji's team, the man's ability was "inhuman." As an investigator who had faced so many battles against ghoul, he kept skeptical. The statements about Garou's prowess seemed like a blabbering of hallucinating people. Yet, he could not find any lie in their words. Their testimonies matched each other and proved by forensic investigations.

The result from the physical exam during enrollment at the academy also suggested the same about the man. He passed the tests with extraordinary result. He broke new records in all the tests, ranging from 200 meters run to weigh-lifting. Everyone who saw him was left baffled due to his insane talent.

Despite the presence of the evidences about the man, they were not convincing Arima in the slightest. He still could not accept that. He needed firsthand proof. Because for the bespectacled investigator, "seeing is believing." Since he was a high-rank investigator, he was given privilege to conduct any measure regarding "potential threat," even without CCG's approval in advance. CCG believed that Arima was the most competent person for handling such job. This occasion, he would use that benefit to investigate the special witness.

"What are you actually, Garou?" Arima muttered as he turned his his gaze toward the rising sun.

Arima's pondering interrupted by knocking on the door of his office. He knew who was the visitor. It was his subordinate, Hairu Ihei.

"Come in," said the white-haired investigator.

"Good morning, Arima-_san_," greeted a pink-haired lady as she walked toward the man's desk. "Why do you call me this early?"

"Ihei, I need your assistance." The legendary investigator said as he put the bundles on his desk.

"This is…" uttered the pink-haired investigator as she grabbed the bundles and squinting her eyes.

"A very special case," said Arima as he played a pen between his fingers.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Ihei.

"We need to know who is this special witness." Arima replied plainly as his fingers still spinning the pen.

"Reconnaissance? When?" inquired the subordinate as she was still reading.

"An observation to be exact," answered the bespectacled man. "We'll do it this afternoon. I'll also contact Ui later."

"Do you think this Garou guy is… a threat?" asked Ihei hesitantly.

"Probably. That's the reason behind this mission." Arima replied with a shrug.

* * *

The bell at the academy rang, marking the end of the learning activity that day. As the cadets who wore black pants or skirt with light brown jacket came out from the building, a certain "boy" with his V-shaped hairstyle also walked out from the building, just like other cadets.

The lessons that day for the martial artist was uneventful. But he enjoyed them.

"Hey… Garou-_kun_," greeted a black-haired boy as he ran toward the man he just greeted. "Why don't you join us to play at Yoshinobu's dorm? We'll have a BBQ party there!"

"Sorry…" Garou replied coldly with inexpressive face. "I've some business. See you…"

The martial artist waved his hand and left the group of cadets. He left without turning his head back.

"Huuh…" The black-haired boy sighed. "I just want to befriend him. But why he just leaves us? Is it because most of our friends deem him as a creepy guy?"

"Keiji-_san_, maybe he is still busy with assignments." Another black-haired boy chimed in. "What do you think, Yoshinobu?"

"Maybe he is…" said a blonde male cadet. "Hmm… Don't you think that he is… lonely?"

Suddenly, the boys heard a giggle from a girl.

"What's funny, Aiko-_san_?" asked one of the male cadets named Masuta.

"Hehehe… _Garou-kun_~, I bet he is a single," said a blue-haired girl with side ponytails cheerfully.

"Seriously?" Uttered Keiji.

"Now~…" said the girl as she grabbed the arms of another girl. "Hasuda-chan~… Don't you think that this is your chance? He maybe looked like a man in his 30s but I swear, he is younger than most of us. Owh… it would be cute if you can get closer to him!"

The girl with glasses named Hasuda protested and flailed her arms in front of the twiny-tailed girl in response. "Aiko-_chan_! What are you talking about?" Aiko grinned when seeing Hasuda's reaction. The male cadets only chuckled in response.

"Heh… Hasuda-_san_, please don't mind Aiko's advice." Masuta assured the girl with glasses jokingly. "She only got those info from gossip."

"Hey, my gossip channel is 100 percent accurate you know!" The twin-tailed cadet retorted as she pouted. "Well, some girls from other class also talked about him. He has many secret admirers."

"Whoah! Really?!" Yoshinobu exclaimed with gleaming eyes.

The group of five still conversing as they could see from afar, the man they were talking about stopped in a small park. They stopped chatting when they saw a giant investigator walked toward the man and appeared to talk with him. The group knew who was the giant.

"Is-n't that investigator Amon?" asked Yoshinobu.

"Yeah… I'm sure he is." Hasuda said while fixing her glasses' position.

"Could it be that Garou-_kun_ is… investigator Amon's relative?" Aiko said as she cupped her chin while grinning.

"EeeHH?" was the cadets' only response toward Aiko's… somewhat rhetoric question.

* * *

While the five cadets were eyeing him from the distance, the martial artist went ahead to his living quarter. He stopped in a small park when he saw Amon walked from the other direction. '_He came here? Welfare check, huh?_' thought the silver-haired man. It's been a week since he saw the hulk. After the second encounter with ghouls, he only met Amon's seniors. Garou was curious about the giant's purpose.

"Yo, Amon-_san_," greeted the martial artist plainly as he waved his hand. "What's up?"

"Garou-_kun_," said Amon with his ever-present serious expression. "Do you have time?"

"Yeah. Why?"

There was a pause. Amon was drawing his breath as Garou stared blankly toward him, while expecting something big. For the hulk, talking with the demon was a big challenge for his patience.

"We need your help." Amon spoke plainly.

"And what is it?" The martial artist gave blank stare.

"Tonight, we will conduct _whack-a-mole_ operation around 13th ward. Would you like to join?" Amon explained as he opened his briefcase. "Most of the senior investigators were assigned to the other wards. So, we need additional personnel to replace them."

"Actually I don't mind to join. But you know that I'm not an investigator, right?" The martial artist retorted. "Last time I beat the ghouls was because we were attacked."

"Okay. I know." Amon said as he gestured the demon to calm down. "What if I bring a special letter of approval from the HQ?"

Amon pulled a paper from his briefcase. He showed it to the golden-eyed man as a smile adorned his face.

Garou's eyes scanned through the document in front of him. There was the name "Kotsuhiko Garou" written on it. At the bottom, Mister Washuu's signature and CCG's stamp were present. It was legitimate. He didn't mind about the CCG's policy, but he felt that the decision was far too different than what he read in the book. It was said that the organization would only deploy investigator in a mission and would never use or hire civilians for such purpose.

"Very well," spoke the martial artist as he crossed his arms while his right hand still holding a flat bag. "But this feels like we screwed the rules."

"Garou-_kun_," answered the tall man as he put his hand on Garou's shoulder. "You have read the Ghoul Countermeasure Book, right?"

"Uh-uh… so?" The demon raised his eyebrows.

"That's just the theory. The reality is different."

"Break the rule because they were the one who made it," Garou said nonchalantly as he looked at the sky.

"Say it in front of the Director and you'll be kicked." The giant jokingly threatened Garou.

"Peace," replied the golden-eyed demon as he flashed his index and middle fingers. "I know. This is what we call as exception."

"Hmm… That's the better term." The giant responded as he smiled. "Then, will you join?"

"Okay. Let me come." The demon nodded. "What time?"

"At eight. Meet us near the gate," replied the hulk as he handed the letter.

"Should I keep this?" Garou asked as he took the paper.

"Yup." The hulk nodded.

"Anything else?"

"For the attire, just wear the one like mine," answered Amon.

"The suit? Aw… the pants aren't really comfortable." The martial artist complained.

"Do you mean too tight? Oh, that's too bad. They only provided us with standard suits." The hulk scratched his nape. "Alright. Then you can wear anything that fits you. Your black cargo pants and white shirt would be better. And… investigator Mado really want to see that cool technique of yours. So, you shouldn't wear anything that may hinder you."

"The skull? Really?" inquired Garou as his brows raised.

"Hey!" Amon snapped at the martial artist. "He's a senior investigator! At least, don't use such kind of name! Well… yeah. He wants to see how you perform that insane moves."

"Oh, sorry." The martial artist apologized plainly which made Amon clenched his jaws while his hook-shaped brow twitched.

Actually Amon really wanted to lecture the demon about respecting the elder, but he was aware that the occasion wasn't good. He could only sighed while wishing that Garou would change his attitude. Speaking of attitude, he just remembered that the golden-eyed man had attended the academy. He was curious about the martial artist's school life. After all, the tall investigator was the one who got the duty to take care Garou's administrative requirements.

"Well… Anyway, how's your school?" asked Amon.

Garou wasn't really ready for the question. He felt that the change of topic was a little bit confusing. '_Why all of sudden he asks me about that?_' Though it felt like a quick skip, he answered it.

"Uhh… it was… quite fun." The golden-eyed man answered as he gave a confused look. He didn't realize that his confused expression turned into a smile which made the hulk smirked.

"Quite fun, huh? I see. I bet you have good time." Amon nodded as he rubbed his chin to mask his smirk. "Do you find any problem?"

"Nope," replied the demon.

"Well… alright. If you need anything, just call me. I think that's all that I want to tell you. Okay, see you later." Amon said as he took his step. Before he passed Garou, the giant tapped the demon's shoulder to give his parting words. "And it seems that you get a fan-club. Don't waste them, Garou-_kun_."

The martial artist widened his eyes as Amon left the place. He turned his face back toward the school yard to see that the five cadets were still eyeing him. He was aware that most people in his class were scared by him. But he just realized that there were creepier people above him. These "scarier beings" had been gawking during his whole conversation with Amon.

"Ughh, damn it." The former Hero Hunter said under his breath as he left. "I should also train my senses for non-fighting things. Hope that those creeps won't bug me again."

* * *

Currently, a certain martial artist who wore white baggy pants and a black long-sleeved shirt was meditating. He sat on top of a concrete pillar in front of the defunct training facility. It was around 16:30 in the afternoon and the shadow of the building sheltered his sitting place. Soft wind blew the trees in the vicinity, making the circumstance more soothing. It was truly a perfect time to do meditation. Around half an hour later, the golden-eyed man opened his eyes and jumped from the pillar. He landed on the ground nearly without making any noise. '_Time to continue morning exercise,_' mused the former Hero Hunter as he put off his black t-shirt and covered his eyes with a piece of cloth.

Blindfolded, Garou started his moves by inhaling air as much as his lungs could suck up. Breathing technique was a vital part in Water Flowing Rock Smashing Fist. It allowed the user to channel his energy during a move while maintaining body's stability. Without doing so, the move would become dull since the body wasted the energy for pouring raw power. Basically, breathing technique was a method to optimize the power output. The technique was emphasized even more in the practice of Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist.

The martial artist exhaled the air in his chest. As the CO2 left his lungs, he pulled back his right arm and stretched the other. His right palm opened like karate chop while the left clawed. He bent his knees, a little bit crouching. The stance was a preparation for series of next movements. The golden-eyed man then walked slowly as he moved his hands smoothly, like the flowing water. From afar, it looked more like a dance. He stretched his right arm, followed by the left and repeated it as he increased the tempo. As the speed of his move heightened, the power also stronger. His moves then turned into flurry of strikes of his hands. The dust around him blown, indicating strong winds produced by his moves.

The martial artist actually wasn't alone. A couple hundreds of meter beyond the thickets and trees surrounding the area, three figures laid their eyes on the martial artist. The three observers were wearing hooded white trench-coat and carrying trunks. The tallest among them was standing beside a tree. The other two were squatting, hidden behind bushes. The tallest who appeared as the leader kept staring at Garou in silence while the other two were also gawking between their whispering.

"Say, Ihei-_san_," said the first squatting figure. "What the hell is that?"

"Uhh, Koori-_senpai_… I-I don't know." The other replied with shaky voice.

"Are you ill?" asked the man as he looked at his friend's hooded face.

"U-um, no," replied the other.

His companion who appeared to be a woman could not hide her reddening cheeks under the hood. Seeing that, the man smirked. He was sure that she was mesmerized by the martial artist's heavily built body. He knew that most woman would squeal when given such attraction. And the lady beside him was the calmest type whom he ever knew. Thus, her reaction was normal but also hilarious at the same time since he never saw her in such state.

"Chief, what do you think?" asked the male figure as he turned toward the standing man.

"He's abnormal," said the leader plainly.

The golden-eyed man slowed down his strikes as the hiding observers focused their attention back to his performance. He slowed down his arm movements for cooling down. The process followed by inhaling and exhaling air repeatedly and slowly. The next moment, he made a new stance by hunching his body while letting his arms dangled on the ground. He started his second round as his legs kicked the ground. He ran or rather… moved on all four. He ran and jumped around the place in a speed that human's eyes couldn't register. He turned into blur of whites, moving from the ground to the concrete pillars and nearby trees. In addition, his eyes were still covered.

Shiver ran down the spines of the observer. At first, when they saw some _taichi_-like super fast arm movements, they thought that the man was simply an "adept." But when they noticed he was performing Watchdogman technique, their thinking process clogged. It was downright insane that a person moved like a beast in such velocity without crashing any obstacles. And the fact that he was blindfolded only made their minds blown. It was as if the man bent the law of physics.

"T-terrifying…" uttered the man who was still squatting. "Chief, should we fall back?"

"Not yet," replied the leader as he clenched his right fist tighter around his trunk's handle. "I need to know more."

"A-arima-_sa_… I mean, C-chief." The lady stammered due to her worry. "Please don't act recklessly."

"If he is a human, he won't kill me." The legendary investigator gave a cold response toward his subordinates as his thumb moved to a button on the handle. "Ui, Ihei… suppose that anything goes wrong, you must go back and tell the Director."

The squatting figures gulped. They didn't want to imagine the worst things that could happen. They also couldn't argue their leader. Hesitantly, they nodded as they said, "Understood," in unison.

As Arima was walking to face the demon, the said demon continued to bounce around the yard. Before he came to a stop, he needed to test a combo he thought earlier during his way back from the academy.

The white-haired investigator stopped on his track. He heard some boom and thud as his eyes widened in surprise. Some rusty steel poles on the yard were cut clean. Near them, some perfectly circular holes adorned two concrete pillars. The cuts was so smooth, like the objects were severed by ultra sharp blade. He gawked at the sight for some seconds as Garou lunged himself for the last time and landed on a pillar.

Reality and subconsciousness seemed to blend. It was what Arima felt at the moment. His brain tried to reason the phenomenon before him to no avail. His logic could not perceive what his eyes was seeing. He didn't believe something called as supernatural. But if he believed such thing, he would call this phenomenon as supernatural. He felt a small bit of fear, but his curiosity took the better of him. He didn't want his observation gone futile. Thus, he needed to do a "small test" to answer the big question in his mind: what is Garou?

Carrying his trunk, he walked closer toward the demon, leaving behind his shuddering underlings. A breakthrough about this was absolutely needed, although it might harm him. As Arima got closer, through his glasses, he could see the figure who aroused his desire to make a discovery got clearer. The subject of his gonna be "experiment" showed him a well built back muscles. But it was too abnormal because with such body, the martial artist could move his body faster than a SS-rate ghoul. Arima compared the man's body to some investigators who had similar build but as far as he knew, they never reached such kind of speed and agility during their action. In short, how was the subject could be extremely nimble? And the "magic" he pulled to cut the poles and bore the pillars would be the second question.

Arima then stopped some meters in front of the column as the subject turned around to face him. The investigator's instinct told him that the martial artist knew his presence. The more horrifying fact was yet to come.

"Investigator Kishou Arima. Nice to see you," greeted Garou with bland expression, still blindfolded. "Thanks for accompanying me back then when I met Mister Washuu."

Garou descended to the ground, some meters in front of Arima. The white haired investigator was taken aback. He didn't knew that the subject had capability to discern the aura of someone he knew. But he was prepared to face anything if it was worthy enough to answer his question. He tightened his grip around his trunk's handle.

"Hoh… do we have a problem?" The martial artist asked with a puzzled look. "You want to pick a fight? Fine… Just don't blame me if you get hurt."

Arima didn't let his shock stopped him. Instead, he took Garou's words as a cue to strike. He pressed the button on his trunk's handle to reveal a _katana_, _Yukimura_ 1/3. In a span of half a second, he lunged himself forward in a breakneck speed while holding _Yukimura_ with his right hand. In such speed he could see Garou was still standing on his place. A second later when he moved his arm upward to swing the blade, he felt a strong gust of wind passed him. The subject was nowhere to be seen. In his dash, he heard a faint thud on the ground. He skidded into a stop as a very thin cut appeared on his right cheek. When he felt _Yukimura_ got lighter, he turned around to see most part of its blade stabbed the ground while the subject was standing as the background. He stood in stance like a praying mantis. Arima pulled back his hood and rubbed his bleeding cheek as the martial artist put off the blindfold.

"You are very fast." Garou remarked as a wide grin appeared on his face. "No wonder you become CCG's ace investigator."

It was over. Arima could only showed a pensive look. His investigation to know more about the subject met a bizarre failure. It seemed that his method could not be applied to study the subject before him. He was sure that the the subject could give him a deadly blow before he even realize what had happened. But at least from the test, his assumption that the martial artist was a human was confirmed. In the end, he needed to apologize for his egoistical action.

"Kotsuhiko Garou–" uttered the bespectacled investigator as the former Hero Hunter interjected.

"You want to say sorry?" The martial artist inquired as his piercing golden eyes directed toward the investigator who held a broken sword. "It's okay actually. You really helped me in my training."

The legendary investigator hung his jaw. '_Helping a training? Is this a joke?_' He could not believe that his action wasn't considered as an offense. One more time, his logic was challenged to comprehend the man before him. And once again, it only met a dead end. The subject's grinning face turned back into a bland expression as Arima froze while being consumed by his thoughts.

On the other hand, the martial artist was only a little bit surprised by the unexpected meeting with the white-haired investigator. When he practiced Bang's technique, he had sensed the presence of some individuals in the vicinity. But he let them be since he didn't felt any danger from them. And when Arima charged toward him, he didn't feel any killing intent from the investigator. If he felt any, the decision to break the _katana_ was more than enough to immobilize the investigator. After all, most investigator would always rely on their weapon.

"Well… it's getting late," said the former Hero Hunter with a shrug as he walked away to take his shirt. "Sorry for breaking your quinque."

Arima could not utter a single word. His mind was still processing all things which had transpired. He looked at the martial artist who was wearing a black shirt. '_What kind of craziness is this?_' mused the investigator as he turned his gaze to his broken _Yukimura_.

"Okay, investigator Arima," said the martial artist. "See you again." Garou waved his hand and left the training ground.

The ace investigator could only stared blankly toward Garou who walked away casually. The image of his white baggy pants made Arima's mind which was in a state of overheat gave a simple conclusion. '_Okay. Garou is a martial artist._' His exhausted mind could only tell that. His subordinates came toward him as he turned around to take _Yukimura_'s severed blade.

"Chief, shall we go back?" Ui asked with a concerned look.

"Yes. Let's go," replied the bespectacled man plainly.

"You looked so tired," said Ihei as she pulled back her hoodie. "I think you should take a rest."

"You are right," replied Arima as he gave a faint smile.

* * *

The three investigators walked back to the small wood after their observation. They continued their chat as the ray of setting sun illuminated their way between the trees.

"By the way, Chief…" Ui said as he scratched his cheek. "Did you finally know what is he?"

"Unfortunately not." Arima replied as he looked to Yukimura's blade. "But one thing for sure."

"And what is that?" inquired Ui.

"He is a martial artist," answered Arima as his pensive look directed toward the dirt road.

"Is he really a human?" Ihei asked as she looked at her Chief's broken quinque. "It was so scary back there when we watched you engaged him."

"I cannot confirm about it either. He is on a different level than us," replied the white-haired investigator. "Even he surpasses ghoul."

Hearing a fact about Garou from their leader, Ui and Ihei nodded their heads. That was their first time they discovered a mysterious being other than ghoul. His show of ability made them shuddered every time they thought about that. Their mind could not reach the logic behind the martial artist's display of skill. Only time would unfold the mystery behind it.

"Did you also find him as… scary?" Ui asked the leader jokingly.

"Indeed," Arima replied the joke seriously as he looked Ui's face. "I felt fear. But my curiosity was stronger."

"Wow, that's cool." The pink-haired lady complimented, followed by a light chuckle.

"If he's not cool, he will never defeated the Owl," exclaimed Ui.

Hearing the compliments from his subordinates, a new idea sparked in Arima's mind. Since he was still curious about Garou, the white-haired investigator wanted to learn about the subject's daily life. He just needed to send one of his subordinates to see the martial artist's daily activity. His observation would turn into a stalking in some extent.

"Actually, I need one of you to observe Garou's daily activity," said Arima.

Ui gasped while Ihei blinked. They never imagined that their leader would go that far to investigate the mysterious being. They knew that stalking was one of the most effective method in investigation, but stalking a guy that might not be a human seemed to cross the line.

"Sorry, I pass," said Ui as he raised his palms, surrendering. "I don't want to be munched by that beast. I think he's scarier than a SSS-rate ghoul."

As Ui's former mentor, the white-haired investigator knew very well that Ui was a sociable person but could not handle such kind of job. Arima then turned to Ihei. The pink-haired lady gulped as her eyes met the leader's pair of glowing glasses, reflecting the setting sun's ray and her fate. The ace investigator actually wasn't sure but Ihei seemed to be a perfect person for doing clandestine operation. It worth a try.

"Ihei-_san_. I know you can do this." Arima said with a small smile.

"Uhh, but…" Ihei wanted to refuse since she didn't know whether she could accept the challenge.

"Don't worry. You don't need to be a literal stalker." The white haired investigator assured as he turned his gaze toward his watch. "There are some investigators who often get in touch with him. You can get information from them. Especially Koutarou Amon."

Ihei frowned at the mention of the tall investigator. As far as she knew, the hulk was still under the apprenticeship of Kureo Mado. She assumed that the tall man was appointed as a guardian merely because he was still "young" and the best graduate from the academy. For her, it was a problem since she didn't really like to mess around with people from the academy. She thought that most of those people were too procedural and tend to look down on investigator from outside their circle.

As they walked, Ihei still thought about the challenge but suddenly, the images of Garou's chiseled body filled her mind. Her cheeks turned red as she thought about that. '_Uhh, why I think about that… Am I really want to get chummy with him?_' Ihei mentally questioned about herself. '_Focus! What I need to do is get as much information… Ahhh, but if I see Amon… Should I really get close to the mysterious man?_'

"Ihei?" asked the ace investigator.

"Heh?" Ihei came back to reality. Her musings about how she should carry out the mission stopped completely.

"Will you take this mission?"

"Y-yes, Chief," answered the pink-haired subordinate hesitantly.

"Good. You can do it anytime you like," said Arima. "Just don't forget to make the report."

"Understood," replied Ihei.

"Good luck Ihei-_san_. I think it would be better if you can get closer to your target." Ui gave an advice with his poker face.

Ihei could maintain her composure but could not hide her blushing. Her senior always made fun of her. But this time, it felt like his joke really stabbed her.

"Umm, thanks… Koori-_senpai,_" replied the lady.

The three individuals then lost in their own thoughts as they came closer to a parking lot. Arima could not wait for the report. Ui felt relieved and happy at the same time since he didn't get the burden. And Ihei was planning to deal with Amon and the way she should conduct the stalking… only to be disturbed by the image of the man with with V-shaped silver hair.

* * *

**Author's note and Extras B-)**

Finally, the fourth chapter. X-D

Then, what's next? In Heroes Association HQ meeting room, some people were discussing about that.

…

"Ihei X Garou?" asked a certain bearded worker with his :-O face. "Really?"

"Perhaps," replied his bespectacled colleague. "I wonder about next chapter."

"Don't say that it's about Garou meets Hinami," said the bearded worker's female assistant.

"Nope. It's still too early," replied Sitch. "I think Zhou will plan about a meeting with a very scrawny, red-eyed, androgynous-looking "boy."

The bearded worker spat his black coffee, the bespectacled man gasped, and the female assistant hung her jaw. Sitch's prediction surprised them.

"Juzou," exclaimed the bespectacled worker as his glasses gleamed.

"Suzuya?" asked the female assistant.

"Blehh…" The bearded worker was still choked by the coffee.

…

Far away from city A, deep under an enormous structure in the form of an ultra bunker, two persons was grinning. The light source in the chamber came only from a very wide monitor in front of them. The monitor itself currently showed the activities in the Heroes Association HQ, including the funny dialogue between Sitch and the workers.

"You are very predictable, mister Zhou," said a man with a lab coat.

"Whatever. But that's the way I am, Doctor Bofoi." Zhou replied as he smirked.

"Have you contacted Doctor Chigyou?" asked the scientist. "I've prepared some nano reinforced Q-steel just for him."

"I did." Zhou replied with a shrug. "But he said that he needed **some weapon designs**."

"**For Garou**?" asked Bofoi as he raised his eyebrows.

"Who else."

"Then?" inquired the scientist.

"**I put a poll in my fanfic profile.** **I made four choices of quinque form. It's up to my dear readers to choose one or two among them.**"

"Hmm… **Let's see the poll result**," said the doctor as he pressed a button on the keyboard to show statistic of the poll.

…

Please my dear readers, don't forget about the poll. If you have any opinion about quinque for Garou, send me a PM. I'm open for discussion.

Hope you like my story. Thank you so much for all your supports.

See you next time.


	5. The Showman's Complex

**Author's Note**

Hi, my dear readers. Thanks very much for all your supports. And… sorry for making you wait.

Love you all…

* * *

Before I start, let me answer some dear Guest Reviewers

1\. QueenBee  
Yup. School is not so bad. Hope that Garou-_kun_ can enjoy the school life. XD

2\. (About meeting ghoul and switching side.)  
I don't know. I'm still looking for the best scenario though. Since I follow the canon, there will be times when he crosses paths with Kaneki and his group.

3\. (And again… with Hinami Fueguchi)  
… (sigh)… Please be patient. Like Kaneki, someday… they will meet in a friendly situation. About Ihei, I don't think that I will make her knows about Garou's secret deals with ghouls.

And thank you so much for all your support, my dear readers. Please don't forget to fill the poll. Don't worry. Most of the time, Garou keeps fighting with his _Ryusui Gansai Ken_. The quinque he wield will just become his symbol, just like Arima's IXA and _Narukami_.

Okay… here's the story. Enjoy.

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| The Showman's Complex |

_TOKYO, 13th WARD… 20:30_

* * *

Currently, three persons were walking through an alleyway. Office and apartment buildings were on either side of their path. Two of them dressed in formal attire and each carried a trunk. The other one only wore casual cloths. They were searching for _something_. Finally, on a small clearing, they found what they were looking for. There, five men were holding some kind of meeting.

"Good evening, gentlemen," greeted one of the men who had a hunch back as he widened one of his eyes.

"DOVES!" One of the meeting attendees shouted as he looked at the figures of the new arrivals.

The attendees were the target of that night's operation. They showed their true identity after one of them screamed the warning. This time, two had _rinkaku_ while the rest were _ukaku, bikaku_, and _koukaku_ users. They charged toward the unwanted guests simultaneously.

The two investigators pressed the button on their trunks while the civilian looked at the surroundings, assessing the situation. The hunch-backed man held a green blade while his tall companion swung a black club. They readied themselves as the ghouls initiated their attack.

"Amon, you take the ukaku user," said the hunched-backed man as he deflected some _rinkaku_ attacks. "I'll handle this one!"

"Undestood," replied the hulk as he held his quinque up to cover him from RC-cell projectiles. "Garou?"

Their weaponless companion was not at their side. He had lunged himself toward the ghouls.

When Mado and Amon were engaging their opponents, Garou made a sideways jump and dashed toward the remaining ghouls. The martial artist's agility stunned his enemies since they couldn't land any hit. Before the investigators headed to 13th ward, CCG instructed to leave some ghouls alive if possible. So, the former Hero Hunter just used some simple punches and kicks to subdue the ghouls. He only hit some vital points to make them out of commission which only took 20 seconds.

"Young man–" "Garou–" The calls of the investigators stopped at their throats as they heard loud sounds like something being smashed. While they were still facing the _rinkaku_ and _ukaku_ users, the golden eyed man had pulverized three ghouls. They were knocked out on the ground without any visible injuries.

It made Mado wondered about Garou's ability. He only got a glimpse of the ability and thought about it. '_Hmm, he's strong and… skillful. How can he do that?_' He mused while blocking the whipping _kagune_s. As his musing faded, Mado dodged skillfully all lashings from the _rinkaku_ user and inflicted many cuts in return. He switched his quinque into tentacle-like form when parrying and turned it back into blade for offensive. The hunched-backed investigator attacked without receiving any single wound.

Meanwhile, Garou took his time to gather the fainted ghouls as Amon was trying hard to bash the _ukaku_ user. Five minutes had passed as the martial artist waited impatiently near the knocked out ghouls. Two of the flesh-eaters drooled in their faint when he dragged them. It seemed that the receptors in the predators' noses were responding toward Garou's smell which was more alluring than most human. The martial artist who had no knowledge about it only scowled when seeing the disgusting sight.

The golden-eyed demon felt it was enough. He came near Amon to end the stalemate. Garou jumped to hit the flying _ukaku_ user with his knee to the chest. The flying predator spat blood as air in his lungs pushed out forcefully. Before the ghoul fell to the ground, Amon sent a strong blow to his opponent. The _ukaku_ user was flung some meters before hitting trashcans.

Garou then turned his focus toward Mado who had the upperhand. The martial artist decided to not interfere. He watched, amazed by Mado's quinque mastery. Such ability was none other than the result of long training through combats. He could see that the veteran investigator bore some similarity of movements with Royal Reaper, the monster he killed for the first time using Bomb's technique. Garou's train of thought was stopped when he saw Amon dashed to help his senior.

The ghoul who was having hard time when facing Mado absolutely overwhelmed when Amon joined the fight. His three _kagune_s couldn't block all the incoming strikes. Soon enough, he got a stab from Mado, and was sent flying as Amon's club hit his chest. The hulk's blow was strong enough to make him flung toward the nearest wall.

The investigators looked at the silver-haired man. They saw him taking Amon's first victim from the garbage.

"What we'll do to these guys?" asked Garou as he dragged the ghoul.

"Just gather them," replied Mado as Amon was heading to take his second victim. "We'll use them to fish some information."

"I see." The martial artist nodded as he dropped the ghoul near its knocked out friends.

After they gathered all the ghouls, Mado took the one who fought him. His opponent wasn't fainted. He used his quinque to poke the limbs of the ghoul. Screams could be heard through the alleyway. The senior investigator grinned from ear to ear when seeing the man-eater's agony.

"Well…" said Mado nonchalantly. "Where are your friends?"

"I-I d-don't know," replied the _rinkaku_ owner with shaky voice and terrified face.

Another wail of agony followed. The investigator continued the painful interrogation as Amon and Garou stared at the sight while keeping watch at the knocked out ghouls.

"Garou, thanks for the help." Amon said as he tilted his head toward the martial artist who was leaving his guarding place.

"Don't mention it." The demon replied plainly without looking at Amon.

"Oi! Where are you going?"

Garou didn't reply as he walked to the trashcans. Amon was confused when the demon pulled out a small rag doll from them.

"Doll?" The hulk knitted his brows.

"Just an idea flashed in my head." The former Hero Hunter replied and looked at Amon while playing the doll's hand.

The tall man was still confused. He kept looking at the martial artist as the man nearing Mado who was still doing his "hobby."

"Mado-_san_, I think this is not effective." Garou uttered his idea bluntly toward the senior investigator as the stab wounds on the ghoul's body regenerating. "He won't spill the bean."

"Oh, Garou-_kun_, do you have any nice idea?" asked the investigator as he smiled widely while looking at the doll. "Are you happened to be a _voodoo_ practitioner."

"No. Can I try?"

"Sure." Mado moved aside as the ghoul in front of them who was writhing in pain.

The martial artist crouched near the flash-eater to shove the doll to the mouth. After being gagged, he made the ghoul laid on his stomach. He caught the arms and slowly twisted them while pinning down the _rinkaku_ user to the ground. The ghoul let out a muffled scream, together with the sound of his cracking bones. Mado hung his jaw a bit while his eye widened at the display of Garou's method. Amon was shocked. The former Hero Hunter showed another form of superiority in strength and ruthlessness. As far as they knew, not even top interrogator in the Ghoul Detention Centers could do that.

Human will never surpass ghoul in physical prowess. That's what Mado believed. But the boy in front of him proved it was wrong. Just like another investigators who saw Garou, he was confused. But he felt giddy at the same time. He was so happy because Garou met his expectation. Even surpassed his wildest dream. '_Oh my… Such young man. This will be a hard slap for Marude… h__e__h__e__h__e__._'

"Dude, tell me about Aogiri!" commanded the martial artist as he put off the gag.

"I-I d-don't k-know," replied the ghoul.

"Lie," uttered Garou as he put back the doll and twisted the arms even more.

Muffled howl followed as the arms were contorted in gruesome way. The ghoul was crying due to the pain. Mado and Amon were watching Garou in silence.

"P-please, I sh-swear…" The ghoul replied while enduring the excruciating pain. "A-all I-I k-now is they were ga-thering men fro-m this-s ward."

"Tell me more!" said the former Hero Hunter with threatening tone as his hand grabbed the ghoul's neck.

"Uhggk…" The _rinkaku_ user gasped for air. "Th-hat's a-allch Ie k-nowch…"

"Garou-_kun_," said the hunch-backed investigator as he smiled. "We need to search for their friends. We can save it for later."

"What we'll do to them?" inquired the golden-eyed man as he pointed his toward the fainted man-eaters.

"We'll send them to the detention center." Mado replied as he looked at Amon. He signaled the hulk to contact the nearest investigators from their location.

"Okay." Garou replied as he gave a karate chop to the ghoul's nape, making the man-eater lost consciousness.

* * *

After some investigators came to pick up Mado's team "preys," the three continued their hunt and downed five more flesh-eaters. Unlike the first group, they eliminated them. The martial artist used his hunting skill to chase the predators. He proved to the investigators that he was a making of a perfect investigator.

Seeing the golden-eyed man's prowess, Mado felt so much satisfaction. Never in his life the hunch-backed man found an investigator wannabe who could surpass his standard. Kishou Arima was indeed the best role model he ever raised. The legendary investigator was an excellent combatant. But he lacked the quality as a hunter. And now, the young man before him had fulfilled his dream. Moreover, the fact that the new comer could slash human predator without quinque only put him in an endless awe. What kind of thing the martial artist had been through was the question occured in Mado's mind as he sent a final blow toward a _bikaku_ user.

The _bikaku _user became the last target because on 02:15, they got a call from the local branch. Thus, the operation that night was concluded.

All investigators then went to the 13th ward branch to give report. Upon arrival, the three met some familiar faces. One of them was Yukinori Shinohara, accompanied by a scrawny… boy. As Mado's former disciple, Shinohara bowed reverently toward his old mentor. And being a charming senior investigator as always, he gave a warm greeting to Amon as well as Garou. But that's not the case for his young companion.

"Hello investigator _skull_, I'm Juzou Suzuya." The thin boy introduced himself to Mado as he gave a wide grin.

Amon and Garou took a glance at each other. The hulk and the demon were wondering about the hunch-backed investigator's reaction. They were also weirded out by the boy's appearance which was rather… androgynous. Juzou's figure reminded the martial artist toward Flashy Flash. '_Add a katana, hashtag-like hair clip__s__ and form-fitting suit…_' mused the golden eyed man. '_And… are those stitches?_'

"Hey, Juzou!" Shinohara warned him with stern look. "Where's your manner?"

Most people would be annoyed or even got angry if someone referred them with their physical appearance. But Mado was not that kind of person. He was very accustomed to many kinds of people's antics. Hearing that, he just smiled and offered his gloved hand toward the boy.

"Hello, boy," greeted the hunched-backed investigator as he made a handshake with Juzou. "I'm Kureo Mado."

"Mado-_san_, I'm sorry." Shinohara apologized to his mentor. "He's–"

"It's okay." Mado interjected Shinohara as he smiled.

"And… hello, _giant boy_ and _old man_." Juzou greeted Mado's companions with his juvenile smile while waving his hand.

The boy could not leave his childish manner. Seeing that, Shinohara only face-palmed while the old mentor smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Suzuya-_san_," replied the hulk as his brow twitched. "I'm Koutarou Amon."

"Hi, Suzuya-_san_," greeted the silver-haired man as he rolled his eyes. "I'm Garou."

Just like a child, Juzou came back beside Shinohara as he kept staring at Mado's companions. The investigators continued their talk while waiting for the meeting.

"How was the mission, Mado-_san_?" Shinohara asked, curious about his mentor's hunt.

"It was a big catch," replied the hunched-backed man as he grinned. "Thanks to Garou-_kun_. We could get more than usual."

Mado patted Garou's shoulder while Amon gave a hearty smile. They showed gratitude toward the former Hero Hunter. The martial artist was flattered. Back in his world, nobody ever thanked him nor appreciated his work, save Bang.

"Oh wow! Good job, Garou-_kun_." Shinohara complimented with surprise in his tone. "I hope that one day I can see how you beat ghoul with your bare hands."

"Umm, yeah… sure," replied Garou as a hint of red still present on his cheeks.

"Haha…" Shinohara let out a small chuckle. "Anyway, how about the training facility? I hope we can provide you with something better. Like the one in 4th ward." The investigator gave an apologetic smile.

"Oh, I think that's more than enough," said the martial artist as he grinned. "Besides, what I need is a quiet place."

While hearing the conversation, Juzou eyed the demon for a moment. He only got a rather intimidating glance from the martial artist in return. He felt a little bit shocked to see that. But it only made the thin boy became more curious about the "old man" before him. '_Rei, maybe he __is like you__…_' Juzou wondered in his mind.

Ten minutes later, the meeting started as the investigators came inside a room. The five followed after them.

* * *

Fortunately for the former Hero Hunter, the following morning was Saturday which meant no regular class activity. He didn't need to worry if he overslept. Yet because he never wanted to slack, he kept his strict training. For the martial artist, drowsiness was not a big deal since his adrenal gland swelled every time he went into training.

Another good news of that day, it was the first day for the _kendo_ club. Though it was not obligatory, the trainers at the academy recommended the cadets to join the club. It was reasonable since the training would really help them when wielding quinque. Most of the quinque were melee weapons, so the practice served as an exercise. Due to the recommendation, like most club at highschool and college, new cadets flocked the club.

Although the silver-haired man was a self-taught individual who could excel swordplay, he kept entered the club. He believed that joining the dojo was the best way to broaden his understanding about the martial arts from this world. He also got chances to know more about the average human combat capability.

After doing his morning routine, the martial artist currently was in the dojo, together with many cadets. They wore typical gear for _kendo_. Garou was sitting, listening carefully toward the trainer's explanation. Being a former top disciple of Silver Fang, he didn't want to miss any point from the instructor.

The club activity that day mostly were lectures of sword-swinging basics and ethics in _kendo_. Before the end of lesson, the trainers let the cadets tried to swing their _shinai_. The practice lasted for a good ten minutes. The martial artist found that it was boring. But he felt happy when he thought about the day when he could put the skill he got into a fight. Perhaps four weeks more, they would hold fighting practice.

As the trainees were dismissed, the golden-eyed man noticed a blonde girl which appeared to be a senior cadet. He got a rather interesting thing when he saw another girl called her Mado-_san_. '_So, she is the senior investigator's daughter_,' thought the martial artist as he glanced at the girl. Indeed, she bore some resemblance to her father. '_Hmm, never mind_.' He shrugged as he headed toward the changing room to take his cloths. For the time being, the information he got was not really important.

* * *

After Garou came out from the dojo, he decided to go to the library. As everybody exited the training place, at the nearby park, a pink-haired lady clad in casual dress was waiting while taking some notes. Sitting on a bench under the tree, the lady wrote down some information she got from her observation. As she gulped a boxed juice, she saw a certain man with V-shaped hairstyle among the daily-clothed cadets. He wore a white T-shirt, gray baggy pants and _tai-chi_ slippers. His clothing style was similar like when she saw him for the first time, which accentuated his muscles. The man's appearance was so "poisonous" that she didn't realize that her cheeks turned red.

The said man slowed his pace in response. He got a tingling feeling down his spine. '_Someone's watching me!_' thought the man as he looked around to find no one was glaring at him. He continued his pace as he looked around. '_Nothing…? __W__eird._' The golden-eyed man took out a piece of paper from his pocket to read a list of book titles as he walked to shrug the "being-watched" feeling.

'_That was so close_,' mused Hairu Ihei as she let out sigh of relief. '_He is very sharp. This is bad… Should I continue this way?_' Her cheeks kept reddening as she thought about the silver-haired man.

* * *

A week had passed and some changes happened. The martial artist did his routines without finding anything special except some temporary feeling of being watched. Early in that week, he got nearly perfect scores for the weekly test. The academic achievement made him glad since he proved to himself that he was not bad at his study despite only attended elementary school.

However, his small happiness was shrouded by his stress due to his relationship with his classmates. At first, most of his fellow cadets treated him normally as a peer. Perhaps they got accustomed to his fear-inducing appearance. He was okay with that.

However, once during a PE class, a small bit of his extraordinary prowess leaked.

…

This Tuesday morning, the class took place at the sport center in the academy. There were various athletic venues at the place. Currently, they were at the tennis court. Like usual, some trainers gave explanations before they started the exercise.

After the explanation, the cadets knew that they came there not for playing tennis. It was an agility exercise instead. In the game, a cadet would have to dodge incoming balls launched from some shooter machines. The shot were randomized and the fire would be increased if a cadet didn't get any hit for 20 seconds. Basically, the difficulty would be increased if the cadet could pass every 20 second.

– _1__5__ minutes after the __game __was_ _start__ed_ –

Around half of the class had completed their round. Most of them couldn't last more than two minutes. For them, it was insane. As of now, these cadets sprawled near the side of the court, panting heavily while sweat flooded their bodies.

At first, three shooters were set with low rate of fire. There were an instructor behind each of the machine. They aimed the machines at the cadet. As the cadet evaded all the balls with any movements like side-stepping, jumping or squatting, the fire rate was increased and the trainers seemed to aim more seriously. The cadets mostly got overwhelmed on the sixth 20-second.

Finally, it was Garou's turn. He stood from his sitting place and entered the court beyond the net of wire. When he entered the place, the five creeps who eyed him during his conversation with Amon turned their attention toward him. Some of them cheered the martial artist.

"Yay…! Garou-kun!" Aiko cheered the martial artist as she raised her fist.

"YOU CAN DO THAT, GAROU-_KUN_!" said three of the male creeps who were sitting with droopy shoulders after their exhausting rounds.

The martial artist didn't respond and only gave his back toward his fans. Creeps gonna be creeps, so he kept focus on the test before him as he entered the court.

As the silver-haired man stood in front of the machines, the operators looked uneasy. Garou only gave neutral expression but his golden eyes sent shiver down their spines. The whistle blown and the operators clicked the button frantically.

The first ball was shot and the martial artist dodged it by moving his body slightly. He didn't even leave his standing place as the shots getting more rapid. The following shots, he evaded them effortlessly. The cadets and the instructors as well were awestruck by such display.

Three minutes later, the operators had put the machines into its maximum fire rate while aiming at Garou. But none of the ball hit. They could not keep up with the demon's movement. For the martial artist himself, the test was nothing compared to Golden Ball's _Golden Breakout_. Seven minutes passed and one of the machines ran out of ball. That shocked everyone at place. An instructor who stood near the cadets decided to blow his whistle with trembling hand. The operators then turned off the machine while the demon turned his back. The show was over and the winner was the martial artist. Or so the spectators thought.

Due to nervousness, one of the operators clicked the switch on unintentionally. Some balls flew toward the golden-eyed man only to be deflected with the back of his palm. Garou didn't even tilted his head when he did the instinctive feat. Before the machine turned off completely, the last ball launched out from the muzzle. The former Hero Hunter slapped it back to its sender. It flew ten times faster, went through to the muzzle and busted the inner mechanism due to the sheer force. The machine made rumbling noise as the wrecked dynamo was still whirling. The operator backed down in shock as black smoke came out from the ball launcher.

'_Oops… I went overboard._' The golden-eyed man mused while glancing back at the smoky machine as the remaining operators extinguished the fire.

"Garou-kun, what was that?" asked the instructor as he turned his gaze toward the demon.

"I don't know." The martial artist replied as he was looking for a false reason while staring back at the result of his work. "I think the machine lacks maintenance_._"

"No. What I mean is how you could dodge all the ball?!" The instructor said as he grabbed Garou's shoulders.

"Everybody can do that, right?" replied the martial artist as he gave confused look.

"That's nonsense. Nobody can do such kind of thing."

"Result of training, perhaps…" responded the martial artist as his eyes looked around the surroundings while he scratched his cheek.

On the background, the cadets were murmuring. They thought that the feat looked more awesome than eerie. They just realized that someone with super-investigator power existed in their class. The cadets, especially the girls, looked at Garou with starry eyes. As they looked at the demon, they started to express their admiration.

"Uwah… that's so cooool, Garou-kun!"

"Oh My Gawd… Garou-kun!"

"Awesome… Can you believe that!"

"He broke a new record!"

"GAROU-_SAMA_!" yelled Masuta, Keiji, and Yoshinobu as they came toward their new lord to congratulate him.

Garou was totally flustered. He thought that he just did a usual thing. But suddenly he realized that he was not in the world where such ability of his perhaps never exists. He thought about it as terrified expression manifested on his face while his classmates were chanting his name.

…

"Kotsuhiko-_kuuun_, _tuturuu~_!_"_ A blue-haired girl with ponytail greeted the martial by his first name as he entered the class.

"Good morning, Garou-_sama_!"

"Kotsuhiko-_sama_, are you free tonight?" teased another girl.

"Please, leave me alone!" replied the martial artist as he gave a disappointed look.

"Oi, Garou-_sama_ is a busy person!" said a cadet. "Please, forgive us, Garou-_sama_."

"Garou-_sama_, would you like to have my _bento_? I made two." Another girl said with hopeful eyes.

The martial artist could only pinch his bridge as he slouched on his desk in the back rows. For a loner like him, to be treated like that was the worst thing he could ever imagine. Just because the tennis court accident, boys started to call him with the lordly honorific as some gossip about him ran rampant among girls. To top it off, the fact that he was a runner-up in the weekly exam only testified that the honorific suited him. For the martial artist, getting popular at school was worse than being bullied. It brought back painful memory of his school life. The memory which ignited his hatred toward heroes. A remembrance about something that nearly demolished his sense of humanity.

'_Is this what Tacchan felt? Is this __the__ feeling of being __a__ popular kid? A feeling of someone who would trample the unpopular?_' The martial artist kept on wondering about his current situation. He didn't want to become Tacchan. He didn't know how to respond the sudden change and it made him annoyed. Was it because he was different? He could not answer it either.

Stress was something unavoidable for the silver-haired man. To release it, he raised the intensity of his evening regimen. When investigator Take Hirako gave him a _bokken_, he used it immediately for his exercise. The martial artist knew that the wooden sword was very useful for _kendo_ exercise, so he repeated the lesson from the club and harness it with the knowledge he got from books he read at the library. The activity alleviated the tension, somewhat.

* * *

Fortunately on this Friday evening, Garou was ordered to accompany Amon and other investigators in a patrol around 20th ward. Finally, he could go out to refresh his mind. In this occasion, the martial artist finally could don himself with the formal attire, resized based on his preference. They were silvery-gray suit-jacket with matching color, a little bit, baggy pants. Under his jacket was a white shirt adorned with black and blue-stripped necktie. The attire made him feel really old and reminded him to the lame Blizzard Bunch.

Currently, they were waiting the other investigators in 16th ward. The demon and the hulk passed the time by talking in a park while enjoying some boxed _bento_.

"A _b__okken__?_" asked Amon as he looked at Garou who had just chomped down three packs of meal.

"Yup," replied the demon as he put the empty _bento_ boxes and proceeded to gulp his canned soda.

"Where did you get it?"

"From investigator Take Hirako." Garou replied plainly.

"Are you sure you can use that?" Amon questioned the demon as he gave a very doubtful expression. "I mean, you just entered the _kendo_ club, right? "

"Do I look like an amateur?" Garou responded as he smirked.

"I bet you just learn how to swing _shinai_," responded the giant while mimicking the demon's face. "You are still far from the level to wield quinque."

"Huh… Quinque? They're just like most weapon, right?" replied Garou confidently. "Give me your _Doujima_ and I'll make you regret what you said."

"Sorry… I don't want you to break it," said Amon as he looked at his trunk. "I lend it from my friend."

"Friend?" asked the former Hero Hunter with confused look.

"Yeah." The hulk affirmed. "For me, this is very precious. By the way, don't you have friends back at your home?"

The martial artist froze. Amon's question brought about reality that up until his transfer to the new world, what he had were enemies. Bang and his disciples indeed treated him kindly. But he didn't really care since what he chased was strength. He fought heroes as well as monsters. He was sure that what they really wanted now was his demise since he had beaten most of them and put the world at stake. It was a total hostility. When he wondered deeper, the figures of Bang's last "top disciple" and a snotty boy came into his mind. '_Charanko? That idiot never get in touch with me,_' as he thought about his fellow disciple. '_As of Tareo… he's just a random kid I saw in the park._'

"No." The demon replied after he concluded his thought. His face showed a hint of sadness.

Amon who noticed Garou's reaction felt sorry. If he knew, he shouldn't ask that. From what he could infer, perhaps the demon was a victim of bullying. The tall investigator felt pity for the martial artist. He tried to sympathize toward Garou.

"I see. That must be hard, huh…" Amon said as he patted the demon's shoulder, showing a faint gloom in his face. "Sorry. Maybe I shouldn't ask you about that."

However, Garou could not ignore his current situation. So far, this world didn't offer him strong enemies to fight but gave him nice people in exchange. Now, he realized how valuable a friendship is. Sometimes, it was bothersome but it was nice.

"Hmm, it's okay." Garou's face turned back to normal expression. "Now I have friends."

"Huh… really?

"Yeah…" The demon replied as he leaned his back to the bench.

"And who are they?" asked the giant as he raised his eyebrows.

The martial artist smile rose as well as his rather playful manner. He wouldn't let the giant knew easily who was the people he called as "friends."

"Guess who?"

"Hmm… your classmates?" answered Amon with question.

"Uh… I think… No," Garou didn't really answer the question.

"That's weird. I think that you've made friend with your fellow cadets." Amon commented before he took some gulps from his bottle. "Ah… What about investigators like Hirako-_san_ and Shinohara-_san_?"

"That's more likely," replied the martial artist.

"Then, what about me?"

"Think by yourself."

The demon's response made the tall man really thought about the answer. The fact that he was tasked by CCG to become some kind of guardian for the the special witness was still vague for concluding that their mutual relationship marked as "friendship."

"Among the investigators, I was the one who got the chance to interrogate you." The hulk explained with a hint of uncertainty. "And now CCG entrusted me to take care of anything you need in the academy. So, I think we are…"

The demon found the hulk's explanation was funny. He didn't deny the fact that Amon was the closest person among investigators. Yet, seeing Amon's usual reaction always brought him some delight. And knowing that the hulk seemed to hold no grudge against him only made the demon wanted to poke the giant's patience.

"Hahahaha…" Garou's laughter interrupted the hulk's answer. "You are my servant… hahaha"

This time, Amon didn't take the trap. Instead of snapping like usual, he decided to play along with it. An idea bloomed in his mind.

"Well, it's an honor for this humble man to be your servant, Garou-_sama_." Amon responded by mimicking _cliché_ from films about samurai.

Hearing that, Garou's laughter stopped completely. Unbeknownst to the giant, it pricked the demon since he was having problem with the honorific.

"Something wrong?"

"Um… nope."

"Shouldn't a master let his servant know about his problem?"

The martial artist decided to join Amon's game.

"You are my servant. Then, can you figure out what's my problem?"

From the demon's attitude, Amon could tell that there were some problem.

"Hmm, I think you are having trouble at the academy." The servant said while rubbing his chin.

"Tell me more," said the master. Garou was interested by the tall investigator's ability to perceive the problem. He was curious about how far could Amon piece the puzzle.

"As I thought, people are having problem when interacting with you." The investigator answered while giving a rather serious look.

The second answer was right. He realized that the cadets were crept out in the first week. Though the current situation was different, he still marked the answer as true. And the silver-haired man expected more.

"And you cannot connect with people either."

That's the most awaited answer. The demon now knew that the giant was right. It would become a good chance to hear any suggestion from the investigator.

"Then, my wise vassal," said the demon as he continued the drama. "What should I do?"

"Try to be more open." The wise servant answered as he gazed the trees. "Talk more with people."

'_Try to be more open…?_' The former Hero Hunter put it into a deep thought as he turned his gaze toward the paved road in front of him.

There was silence after the tall servant gave the suggestion. Garou was contemplating about the words as Amon was thinking about his answer. The giant investigator was pondering about whether his suggestion was right or wrong, regarding the silver-haired man's attitude he saw so far. And he was certain that it was the best answer.

"Okay… I will try." The martial artist said as he looked at the investigator after letting out a small sigh. "Anything else, my servant?"

"No." replied the giant. "I think that's all–"

Amon's words was interrupted by the arrival and greeting from a certain, irksome kid the giant had met, not so long ago. The childish boy who wore not-so-formal cloth came toward the demon and the hulk, accompanied by his guardian.

"Yo-ho… giant boy and old man." The scrawny boy greeted the sitting men as he ran toward them.

"Hello." Amon said coldly as he looked at the incoming men.

"Yo!" greeted Garou as he waved his hand.

"Amon, Garou-_kun_…" greeted Shinohara as he followed Juzou. "How long have you been here?"

"Around half of an hour I think," replied the hulk with friendly face as the demon smiled.

"Huh, so you have had your dinner?" asked Shinohara as his thin companion was staring at Amon's trunk. "Luckily we've also had our meal."

"That's good. That means we are ready." The Hulk replied as he looked at his wristwatch. "So, shall we go now?"

"Alright. Let's go. We'll take a cab to Nerima." The charming investigator said as he checked his phone. "Juzou!"

"Okay, okay, Shinohara-_san,_" replied the red-eyed boy cheerfully.

"Let's go, Garou!" Amon stood as he took his trunk.

"Alright," said the golden-eyed man as he stood from the bench.

* * *

After some minutes of uncomfortable ride due limited space on the backseat of the taxi, the hulk, the demon, and the thin boy at last could stretch their aching bodies as they arrived at their destination. Currently, the men started their patrol from a shopping center area.

The ward they were in, Nerima or the 20th ward was well known among investigators as the safest ward. It was considered safe because there were nearly zero case of predation. But in recent month, CCG found a sudden raise in such case. There was possibility that the perpetrator was the Binge Eater. Therefore, the headquarter sent some investigators to do routine patrol. And that night, Shinohara, Amon and their companions were the men who got the turn to scour a small section of the ward.

Two hours passed and their patrol turned into a regular night stroll. They had passed the business centers, housing complexes, some construction site and finally, they were in front of one among Nerima's icons, Kamii University. Shinohara decided that it would be best to take a look around the campus, so the group entered the complex.

As they walked around the campus, they saw some students were still doing their activities. Some of them kept minding their own business while some others gave curious look when they saw the group. Among these students were a blonde boy and his black-haired pal. They gawked at the four men who were passing in front of them. At that point they considered the CCG's men as weirdos due to the presence of the ultra-slim boy and the V-shaped haired businessman.

"Hide… do you see what I see?" asked the raven-haired boy as he showed stunned look.

"What? Those guys?" asked the blonde without any hint of bewilderment, contrary to his friend. "They're carrying trunk, so I think they're just some campus staffs."

"No, what I mean–" the black-haired reply was interrupted.

"Wait, wait… Do you mean that skinny girl and the silver-haired salaryman?" asked the blonde with bulging eyes while pointing at the passing group.

"Yes. They–" The brunette's word was cut again.

The said silver-haired salaryman suddenly turned his head toward the blonde and the brunette. They gasped in unison when the piercing golden eyes filled their vision. The eyes of the man looked… inhuman. His pupils glowed bright yellow under the moonlight which added the dreadful impression for the two unfortunate souls who saw them. The glare was strong enough to slap the two from seeing the man even further.

"Garou-_kun_… something wrong?" asked Shinohara.

"No. I think it's just some students were freaked out by our visit." The demon replied with a shrug as his neutral expression turned back.

"I think the one who make them freaked is you." Amon chimed in as he looked at the demon while snickering.

"My servant…" Garou continued the drama as he ruffled the prongs of his hair. "Is it because of my hair?"

"Heh, Amon… since when he become your master?" asked the tufty-haired investigator with a smirk.

"I don't think so, Garou-_sama_…" replied the hulk as his smirk was still present.

"And... it's just two hours ago." Amon replied Shinohara who nodded while smiling in response.

"Hey old man, why do you have such fancy hair?" asked the thin boy as the group continued their stroll.

"Don't know," replied Garou as he glanced at the students who were practicing drama on the nearby stage. "It grows just the way it is. And why do you look like a girl?"

Shinohara gulped as Amon frowned when the demon uttered such question. That was a very sensitive thing and Shinohara knew very well since he was the one who brought Juzou to CCG. The boy's mental state was unstable which would be dangerous if anyone gave odd comment about him. Meanwhile, the tall servant should face the reality that his master's attitude hadn't changed at all. The two investigators expected something bad would happen.

"Huh…? Do you mean that I am cute?" The boy with stitches asked the golden-eyed man as he put his palms on his cheeks while grinning.

"That's not what I mean!" snapped the martial artist.

"Or… do you like me, old man~? Hehehehe…" inquired Juzou as he gave twisted grin while he leaned closer to the demon.

"Yikes… I don't swing that way!" replied Garou, half yelling.

The investigators sighed of relief. They couldn't enjoy the funny bickering since they expected a bad outcome which made them tensed.

As they walked while chatting, they didn't realize that they had reached the end of Japanese Literary Faculty. Their patrol was uneventful and they didn't get any lead to Binge Eater either. The group would save that for their report. But their mission was not offer yet because suddenly, Shinohara's phone rang.

"Hello, this is investigator Shinohara."

[Sir, we need backup personnel. Right now we are engaging some B-rate ghouls and possibly a SS-rate in 19th ward. We'll send you the location.]

Shinohara's eyes widened as sweat beads formed on his forehead. The news was so shocking but he remained composed.

"Undestood. I'll be there with Amon, as soon as possible."

Amon's face turned serious when he heard the dire news. He tightened his fist around his trunk's handle as Shinohara put his phone inside his jacket.

"Okay, everyone. We are needed to aid investigators in Itabashi." said Shinohara as he walked faster. "We'll need your help."

"Yes, sir," said the giant as he followed his senior.

"Okay, okay…" Juzou replied, half running.

"Take a cab again?" asked Garou as he walked behind Amon.

"We've no choice!" warned the tall man.

"Juzou, Garou-_kun_. We also need you for backup," commanded Shinohara. "Stay behind the investigators when we engage them."

"UNDERSTOOD," replied the boy and the demon in unison.

* * *

**Author's note and Extras**

Fifth chapter and it seemed that some dudes will protest…

...

"This is unacceptable, Zhou!" An old man with bushy eyebrows protested. "Sending my former top disciple back to school is bad. And make him popular among students is worse."

"Yeah." A certain hero with scars on his face nodded. "Are you planning to transform him into _Sakam_–"

"Calm down." The man got smiled. "First, I just want to explore about life in the academy. Secondly, Garou shared Japanese VA with… erhm… the coolest~ high-school student. So, why don't make people look at him with gleaming eyes while the ladies are squealing."

"Okay. You have a point." King responded as he cupped his chin. "_Seiyuu_'s voice is the soul of a character."

"I still cannot accept this!" Bang replied with angry tone as he slammed his fist onto the table. "This is worse than Saitama's beating."

"Sorry, _sensei_. But I think that's the best idea," replied Zhou nonchalantly. "Right, Saitama-_dono_?

"Nah. I don't really care," replied Saitama as he took his glass of tea while Bang started to regain his composure.

"And what do you plan for the next chapter?" asked a blonde cyborg.

"Secret." Zhou answered as he looked at the table. "But he will get more popularity among humans, as well as ghouls."

…

Hope you like my story. Thank you so much for all your supports.

See you next time.


	6. Phoenix Among Doves

**Author's Note**

Hi, my dear readers. Thanks very much for all your supports. Sorry for making you wait.

Love you all… :-D

Before I start, let me answer some dear Guest Reviewers…

1\. Shadow Stalker  
Yes… Garou is cool B-).

2\. (Garou is The Weapon)  
True. He would be CCG's weapon. But sometimes he still uses anything around him to make the battle more exciting.

3\. (Garou siding with CCG)  
Remember, he's no more Hero Hunter. Yoshitoki only asked him to help CCG and he found that CCG offers him a new life where he can find friendship while killing monsters. It's a life he needs after his idealism got crushed.

4\. (Garou meets Hinami)  
… My dear reader, I should admit that you are very persistent. This is still the very early beginning of the series. Please, be patient.

5\. (Garou survives and solo TG-universe)  
Yes he can. As for comparison, Eto's giant Owl form and Kaneki's giant Centipede form could be placed on higher-Demon or lower-Dragon level threat. Most _kakuja_s are nothing compared to cadres from Monster Association. Moreover, Garou becomes stronger whenever he finds overwhelming enemy. Basically, Garou will disrupt the balance in TG-universe.

6\. (Artwork for Ghoul Hunter)  
Well… this is what I need. :'-|

7\. (Garou in Castlevania)  
This is a nice idea my dear reader. Unfortunately, I don't know really much about Castlevania except _Shadow of The Moon_ and _Aria of Sorrow_… :-(

And thank you so much for all your support, my dear readers. I appreciate all your ideas and comments for this story.

Without further ado, let's begin.

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| Phoenix Among Doves |

_TOKYO, 19__th__ WARD… 22:30_

* * *

The men didn't waste any time when they arrived near the location. Shinohara led the group to a warehouse complex on the outskirt of Itabashi. On the place, some investigators and armed guards had surrounded the complex. They could also see some injured investigators were carried to the ambulances while some armed guards fired their rifles toward a warehouse. The situation was rather chaotic and it looked like a siege. The group then met some investigators who was still preparing a strike. Among them was Iwao Kuroiwa.

"Iwa-_cho_, what happened?" Shinohara asked the thick eye-browed investigator with concerned look.

"Oh, Shinohara. Around two hours ago, local branch investigators patrolling this area sent a red code to their HQ." Kuroiwa explained as he put communicating device around his neck. "As the reinforcement arrived, they met hostile ghouls and were forced to retreat due to the danger. They called the main HQ afterward. Seems that this is some sort of meeting place and based on our estimation, there are around 20 ghouls. We've just arrived and some of our men had tried to attack but got injured. So far, we downed only five of them. And the local branch reported that there is a _kakuja_."

"_Kakuja_? This is really bad." Shinohara commented as he looked at the warehouse building. "Did the HQ send Mougan-_san_?"

"I don't think so," replied Kuroiwa. "CCG cannot risk him for this unexpected mission."

"So, what's the plan? Asked Shinohara as he looked at four investigators who were fighting two ghouls."

"Assuming that they are holing up inside, we'll attack their guards outside of the building and make the rest go out by firing it. Then, we can mow them down." Kuroiwa continued his explanation as some lower class investigators prepared their quinque and protective gear. "This is very hard because they will have big chance for escape. But that's better than storm into the warehouse."

"Hmm, that's the most reasonable plan I think." Shinohara nodded. "Alright. Juzou, stick with me!"

"Understood~." The thin boy replied gleefully.

"By the way, should we try Arata?" asked Kuroiwa.

"I will, if you do."

"Okay," said Shinohara as he put off his jacket and took a trunk from Kuroiwa. "Amon! Get ready!"

"Yes, Sir!" Amon replied as he readied his trunk. "Garou!"

The martial artist was silent. His battle instinct was flaring as he sensed raising activity from inside the warehouse. He knew that Kuroiwa's plan would be messed up.

"Not good…" said the golden-eyed demon with low voice as he looked at the warehouse. "They will attack us head-on."

The senior investigators were confused by the martial artist's response. They furrowed their brows because all of a sudden, the new kid uttered a weird possibility as if he was certain.

"What! How do you know?!" Amon asked with utter disbelief in his tone.

Amon's question and the investigator's bafflement answered as the metal door of the warehouse banged open by some ghouls. The hole was big enough for the flesh-eaters to rushed out. They made an ambush and charged toward the riflemen who were cordoning the area. An _ukaku_, two _rinkaku_, three _bikaku_, and two _koukaku_ users were rushing toward the guards while blocking the incoming bullets using their _kagune_s.

When the ghouls made their move, Garou knew that rifle-shots were futile. Seeing potential of casualties, the martial artist decided to take action. He ducked and jumped from his current standing place, leaving a small crater on the ground, together with the shocked investigators who saw his move.

Some of the armed guards who were shooting at the ghouls ceased their fire when they heard a faint sound of explosion. The ghouls also stopped their rush several meters in front of the riflemen as they heard the explosion. Their glowing red pupils moved around to search for the source of the sound. Even the ghouls and the investigators who were fighting on the sides of the building stopped their clash and took some distance. Nearly everybody in the vicinity was expecting something. Amon who had seen Garou in action more than once knew for sure what would happen. On the other hand, Shinohara, Kuroiwa and other investigators around him were still glued on the crater carved by the martial artist.

Three seconds later, the golden-eyed man used the momentum from his fall to stomp the unsuspecting _ukaku_ user, down to the ground. His landing crushed his target's bones and buried the flying flesh-eater to the cold asphalt below. He didn't waste any time as he sent a roundhouse kick to the nearby ghoul, flinging his second target back to the warehouse and adding another hole on the door. To finish the remaining six quickly, he lashed out barrages of punch. The remaining ghouls could do nothing to defend their bodies from the bludgeoning. The beating produced loud thumping sound which made people around stared with shock and horror. It was only ten seconds after the ghouls attempted their attack and he had just pulverized them all. As the last man-eater fell to the ground with damage beyond repair, the former Hero Hunter turned around while fixing his jacket with his smoldering hands. He only gave an uninterested look to the terrified riflemen and investigators. Seeing that crazy power, the remaining ghouls around the place ran for their lives. Even the investigators who fought them were paralyzed by their shock, letting the ghouls escaped.

"Prepare yourself! There are still a lot of them." The martial artist gave a cold stare to the investigators before he turned back to face the warehouse.

The investigators who were still unnerved tried really hard to digest what had just transpired. As of Shinohara and Kuroiwa, they put aside the question about the martial artist and focused back to the current situation. The plan was messed up, so they needed to face the ghouls should the predators came out from their nest. At the same time, they had just realized why Kureo Mado had great expectation about the silver-haired man. As they stared toward Garou who stood unwavering beside his kills, they pressed the button on the collar of their protective vest to reveal some sort of biological armor, wiggling from their backs and then covered their torsos. The black armor was still prototype and the two investigators would be the first people to put it into test. To make it complete, they pressed their trunk's button to take out their quinques. Shinohara grabbed the giant cleaver _Oni Yamada_ while Kuroiwa took his _Kuroiwa Special_ blade.

"Are you ready?!" asked Shinohara.

"As always," replied Kuroiwa as he nodded.

"Amon?!" Shinohara looked at the giant and the thin boy beside him. "Juzou?! Watch our backs!"

"Yes, Sir," replied Amon as the thin boy giggled. They readied their weapons. Amon with his _Doujima_ and Juzou with _Scorpion_ knifes on each hands.

"Fura! Itou!" Kuroiwa called some investigators who stood some meters away. "Ready your squads!"

"Yes, Sir!" replied investigator Taishi Fura.

"Lead the way, Sir!" said investigator Kuramoto Itou.

"Should we stay?" asked Kuroiwa.

"No. Let's move!" commanded Shinohara.

There were 15 investigators who approached the warehouse while 20 others stayed with the armed guards. They moved to join the silver-haired man who stood a couple of hundred meters in front of the door. Before they could reach Garou, he raised his hand.

"Stop!" The martial artist said without turning his head. "Move any further and they will shoot you. Stay here! I will take them out."

The investigators were taken aback. The former Hero Hunter walked casually, ignoring the shocked stares of the investigators. He saw the investigators' performance were pathetic so he decided to deal with the flesh-eaters alone.

"Oi, Garou!" The hulk yelled at the demon.

"He's crazy." Kuroiwa commented as he rubbed _Kuroiwa Special_. "How did he do that?"

"Only Mado-_san_ and Amon who know about him." Shinohara stared at the advancing white-haired man. "Right Amon?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't know either," replied the hulk as he gave a pensive look. "His strength, his speed, his ability… Everything is abnormal. It is as if he wields godly power."

"Shinohara-_san_," called the thin boy. "Do you think the old man can beat the ghouls?"

"I don't know, Juzou," replied Shinohara. "What do you think, Amon?"

"Hmm, let's see later." The tall investigator smiled.

"You always wait and see, huh." Shinohara replied as he looked at Garou who stopped in front of the metal door.

The golden eyes spotted glowing red eyes which were visible from the hole on the door. The moment he saw their eyes, the martial artist drew his breath and exhaled it as he kicked the ground to make his leap. He entered the warehouse from the hole made by the ghouls earlier. The people who saw that dropped their jaws. Even Amon's mouth was also agape. He knew that the martial artist was strong. But barging into ghoul's nest was just like throwing beef into a meat-grinder. Everybody was certain that the move was an utter suicide but could do nothing to stop him.

When they heard muffled explosions and series of unholy screams from inside, their jaws would drop even further if they could. Their shock wouldn't cease as they saw some ghouls with twisted limbs and grave wounds tried desperately to escape from the door. The expression on the man-eater's faces showed the pain and despair they suffered. Such display made people froze. And even some others vomited when seeing red liquid seeped from the door.

Seconds later, another bang was heard and suddenly, the metal door of the warehouse busted out. Some ghouls ran out frantically with terrified expression, followed by three figures which looked like armored monsters. One of them had appearance like a knight with fiery head. The other had reddish-armor with blade on each arm. The last one looked bulky, cannonball-like, with two antennae on its back. The investigators gasped when they saw the three. They were no ordinary flesh-eaters. They were categorized as _kakuja_ or mutated ghouls. It was totally out of prediction.

To people's surprise, the _kakuja_s seemed to ignore the presence of the investigators behind them. Their focus were directed toward the warehouse.

Some investigators took the chance to kill the running ghouls while keeping their safe distance. They retreated to the perimeter line to prevent any casualty when all the ghouls were annihilated. As they went back, they saw the silver-haired man was walking out casually from the warehouse. His gray jacket was stained crimson. A maniacal grin was present on his face. Again, the people were shocked by Amon's companion.

"I never know that monsters like you do exist in this world." The martial artist spoke as he walked toward the _kakuja_s while cracking his fists. "How interesting! Haha… hahaha…"

"DaMn! wHAtt aRE YoU?!" said the red-armor with shrill voice.

"Hhee'ss nnoott aa hhuummaann!" exclaimed the bulky with very deep voice.

"NoW, We ArE In An OpEn ArEa," said the fiery-head. "LeT's EnD ThIs!"

"Hoh… Are you sure you can end this?" The former Hero Hunter smirked as he put his body into a fighting stance, hands clawed. "Actually I haven't seen worthy opponent for a while. Then, let's play!"

"dAmN yOu! HHOAARGH!" The red-armor shrieked a battle cry as it charged toward the martial artist.

Amon knew that Garou had proved himself as a capable ghoul-slayer. But facing three _kakuja_s at the same time was a total madness. The hulk was compelled to help the demon, regardless the situation. At least he could let the martial artist escaped while he distracted the _kakuja_s.

"GAROU! YOU FOOL!" Amon roared as he ran toward the _kakuja_s.

"AMON!" Shinohara shouted as he tried to grab the giant but failed.

"Shinohara! After him!" Kuroiwa spoke as he started his sprint to catch with the hulk.

"What–" Shinohara's words only reached the top of his lungs when he saw another shocking thing.

"_RYUSUI GANSAI KEN!_" uttered the martial artist as he joined his hands and hit the red-armored _kakuja_ with his palms.

"UGHOOGHK…" The red-armor got hit on its abdomen and flew a hundred meters toward the hulk.

Amon who wasn't ready bashed the red-armor to his side out of reflex. The blow was strong enough to put the ghoul tumbled to the ground.

"Oi, Amon-_san_!" Garou called the tall investigator before he engaged the other two _kakuja_s. "I'll leave it to you."

The hulk stood still for a moment. He was conflicted about the idea to abandon his initial plan. Yet, killing a weakened _kakuja_ was also a big opportunity since this was his first time.

"Grrr… fine!" Amon grumbled as he looked at the shuddering ghoul he bashed earlier.

The giant finally chose to attack the weakened _kakuja_. As he ran toward it, the red-armor started to raise with the help of its _koukaku_ blades. When it stood up, Kuroiwa and Shinohara had been on the back of the ghoul, ready to strike. As they swung their quinques toward the armored ghoul, it used its blades to parry _Oni Yamada_ and _Kuroiwa Special_.

"Amon… what do you think you were doing?" Shinohara asked the hulk with a frown. "He knows how to fight."

"Yeah. Don't you think that you're the fool?" Kuroiwa remarked as he held up his quinque.

"Please forgive me," replied the hulk as he looked at the battered _kakuja_. "I know that I was careless."

"Save your apology for later! Let's take this thing down!" Shinohara commanded as he raised his giant cleaver.

"Yes, Sir!" Amon said as he looked back at the martial artist who was weirdly enough, enjoying the battle against the _kakuja_s. In the end, he was the one who got fooled by the demon.

"dAmN yOu aLl! tOtAlLy uNfAiR!" The red-armor screamed as it used its remaining strength to deflect the slashes and blows from the three investigators.

* * *

While the golden-eyed man was fighting the the bulky and the fire-head _kakuja_s, people around were watching him in awe. Turned out, the bulky armored ghoul had ability to release short-ranged electrical spheres while the fire-head was a living flamethrower. The martial artist admitted that the _kakuja_s deserved to be categorized as Demon level threat. They possessed lethal firepower. But their movement speed were very poor. For the time being, he just played around with the armored monsters.

Thunder-balls and flame were fired toward Garou but none of it hit him. The martial artist felt the battle became boring since his enemies had no other sophisticated weapon. And the fact that they didn't have any tactic made the battle a waste of time. He decided to end the game and destroy the _kakuja_s as quick as he could.

Ordinary ghouls he faced earlier all were broken just by raw power. But these _kakuja_s had extra plating which allowed to tank punches from heroes like Puri-Puri Prisoner and Tanktop Master. Even the golden-eyed man was sure that the armor wouldn't break easily if he used Bang's technique. He needed to increase either his power and hit rate or aimed for the less protected part. The martial artist smirked as he dashed toward the fire-head while evading the incoming blue flame.

Several hundred meters away, on the side of the building, Shinohara, Kuroiwa and Amon were still fighting the red-armor. The crimson-armored ghoul was far from its prime since Garou's initial hit had wrecked its inside, rendering its movements dull. Several cracks and cuts were visible on the armor. The three investigator's coordinated attack managed to inflict some wounds but still not enough to bring the red-armor down. The fight continued with the investigators got the upper hand.

Garou then aimed for the fire-head. As he landed behind it, he used Water Flowing Rock Smashing Fist to hit its left arm joint. The ghoul grunted before it could turn around as the martial artist landed 100 haymakers per second. Just like what he thought, the arm fell from its socket after being pounded for three seconds. The fire-head cried in pain as blood spurted from the place where its left arm was. The golden-eyed man ran away and came back to unleash _Tanktop Tackle_. His attack flung the fire-breather to the warehouse's concrete wall and made its body embedded to it. Seeing his opponent knocked out, the demon switched to the bulky armor.

The cannon-ball turned around clumsily and shot out some spheres toward the martial artist. Garou closed the range by leaping forward and repeated the move he used on the fire-head. His super-fast attack only left some cracks on the arm. He continued the attack by unleashing Bomb's technique but the result was only some circular deep cuts on the the armor. His attacks weren't strong enough to break the plating. He didn't know that the RC-cell density was much higher than the other _kakuja_s.

Garou retreated by jumping to the building's roof when suddenly, he felt an unusual change of energy pattern around the _kakuja_. He was a little bit surprised when the bulky released thunderbolt toward him. Instead of dodging it, the golden-eyed demon used Bang's technique to tear the lightning. The deafening sonic boom of the thunder and the brilliant light caught the attention of everyone present. Even the fire-head who had passed out for some moment got up from its faint.

The former Hero Hunter was thinking about some ways to bring down the thick-armored ghoul while he was waiting on the roof. Pounding the _kakuja_ with Bang's technique would be time consuming. Bomb's technique was also proved ineffective. Adding more power to those techniques would result in collateral damage to the surrounding, not to mention the possibility of injuring people in the vicinity. If those techniques were not options, _Roaring Aura Void Ripping Fist_ would be the same. As he looked around to see the investigators, an idea about the principle of quinque crossed his mind. '_Let's see if I can use that crimson-blade ghoul,_' mused Garou as he gave a thoughtful look to the exhausted red-armor. As he eyed Amon and the senior investigators, the fire-head had just descended from the wall.

"ReTrEaT!" The fire-head shouted the moment its legs touched the ground. "ReTrEaT At OnCe!"

The fire-head blew its flame to make a fire screen before it dashed and jumped to the roof of another warehouse. It knew that the martial artist was unexpectedly and terrifyingly overpowered. It didn't want to risk its life just to be killed by such monster in human form. And the said monster only glared and let the fire-head ran from the arena. It seemed that the martial artist only pursued the other _kakuja_s.

Hearing the fire-head command, the red-armor rushed and pushed Kuroiwa to the side. Yet before it could ran further to catch with its companion, the martial artist jumped and landed in front of it. In a split of second, he tackled the red-armor to the ground, grabbed its ankle and dragged it. The red-armor couldn't resist as it was pulled and rushed toward the cannon-ball.

Dragging the red-armor, the martial artist then passed the bulky and aimed for its back. He severed one of the red-armor's arm and used it as a makeshift lance. The _koukaku_ blade managed to dug its way between the antennae. The bulky grunted in pain as the red-armor screamed due to the laceration. As he saw the bulky tried to unleash another thunderbolt, he grabbed the red-armor and threw it toward bulky's back, making it tangled over the antennae. The red armor jerked and howled as electricity coursed through its body. When Garou saw the sparks getting bigger, he jumped and ran back to unite with Amon, Kuroiwa and Shinohara.

Some seconds later, the desperate attempt of the bulky to release a thunder resulted in an explosion. Fortunately, no one got injured. When the black smoke cleared, everybody only looked with shocked stare. There were two figures, lying on the ground. The first was burned to crisp and couldn't be recognized at all. The other one was a very tall and fat blonde man with gaping stab wound on his back.

Kuroiwa and Shinohara were baffled at the sight of the dead ghouls. Meanwhile, Amon who had seen "Garou's art" more than once pinched his bridge.

"Garou." The hulk glared dagger at the martial artist. "You are totally reckless. You nearly killed us?!"

"I didn't mean to do that," argued the demon casually.

"Amon. He just wanted to help us," said Shinohara.

"Yeah. He just did his best," added Kuroiwa. "And don't forget that you also acted recklessly."

"Urk…" The giant cringed at the mentioning of his fault as he looked down and kept silent.

"Well, Garou-_kun_… Next time, try to work in team." Shinohara gave his advice as he smiled. "And don't act by your own unless you are given order to do so."

"Understood." The martial artist nodded as he gave a pensive look.

Kuroiwa took a glance at the silver-haired man. The insane feat the man had showed bugged his mind. He was curious about how Garou could attain such ability.

"Hmm, Garou-_kun_," called the thick-eyebrowed investigator as he walked beside Shinohara. "How can you be that strong?"

The martial artist who had anticipated such kind of question hummed before he tilted his head and answered Kuroiwa. At the moment, he just want to give simple answer. And he knew that the investigators had read the report from Tokyo Police Department about him, though he doubt they believed it. So at least they knew about his unusual background.

"Well… Let's just say that monsters roam the place where I came from." Garou replied as he smiled. "And I was trained to kill them."

Shinohara frowned as he thought about the report from the police. The idea that the golden-eyed man came from another realm didn't make sense. But the ability he had just witnessed could only make the idea more plausible.

"Trained to kill them?" inquired Kuroiwa.

"Yeah," answered the martial artist.

"Are they something like ghouls?"

"No. They are different." Garou replied as he glanced at Amon. "They are mysterious organisms which occur due to various factors. If you need more explanation, you can borrow my book."

"I see." Kuroiwa responded with an awkward smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Different organism huh?"

"Hey, Iwa-_cho_," called Shinohara as he nudged Kuroiwa. "You should take Garou-_kun_'s offer. Read the book and you'll become an expert of monster."

"Nah. I'd rather ask Garou-kun if I need," replied Kuroiwa as Shinohara chuckled.

As they walked, the demon took a glance again at the hulk. It seemed that his superior's criticism still weighed him down. The silver-haired man somewhat felt bad for Amon.

The investigators and the riflemen who saw the spectacular battle were still at their place as they talked about what they had just seen. They were waiting for the order to dismiss from the place and went home, bringing the story of the bizarre operation.

Garou, Amon and the senior investigators were about to leave the place. Shinohara and Kuroiwa looked back at the scene to check whether there was still enemy around. Taishi Fura and Kuramoto Itou then came to report to the senior investigators.

"Sir, area around this warehouse is clear," said Fura.

"Good job." Shinohara spoke as he gave thumbs-up. "Anyway, did you see Juzou?"

"Um… about that…" Hesitantly, Itou said about the thin boy's action. "He's there after he annihilated a group of escaping ghouls.

"Oh… no. Please, not again." Shinohara facepalmed as he looked at his companion who waved at him, with his ever present childish grin. Some bloodstains adorned Juzou's outfit.

* * *

At an unknown place in Tokyo, a tall white-haired man in white robe with a red mask to cover his mouth and nose was walking unsteadily. Blood was dripping from the stump of his left arm. When he reached a building which appeared to be a quiet parking lot, he fell down. He coughed and blood oozed from behind his mask. As he was lying on his stomach, two figures came toward him. The first one had very petite stature and wore a purple hooded robe, all limbs were bandaged. The other appeared to be a man with long pony tail, donned a dark robe and a white mask with painted snickering mouth. The pony-tailed man then squatted to rub the wounded man's back as the petite figure stood casually near them.

"Tatara-_san_, what happened?" asked the purple-robe with muffled child voice. "Did Arima came to disturb the meeting?"

"I-I'm so sorry, Eto-_san_." The red-masked man apologized as the dark-robed man helped him to sit. "It was something worse than him."

"Heeh…?! Worse?" Eto asked in disbelief.

"I think WORSE is not enough to describe it." Tatara looked down as he thought about the beating he got and how his underlings were decimated mercilessly.

"Where are our guests?" inquired the bandaged figure further.

"They were killed," replied Tatara as he looked at Eto's bandaged face.

"What!" Eto gasped. "How…? They are among our most dependable business partners. And they are strong _kakuja_s. How can they…"

"When we were still in the meeting, our men reported that CCG had been raiding the place. It was so fast and unanticipated." Tatara spoke as he stared at nearby pillar. "The man… He's definitely from CCG. He has silver hair and very sharp golden eyes. Suddenly he barged into our place and thrashed everyone. He didn't carry any quinque."

Eto was totally confused. Tatara who always be composed and logical all of sudden talked about monster out from horror movies.

"Tatara-_san_, I think you should take a rest. Your fatigue had consumed you." Eto suggested as the dark-robed figure nodded. "Don't say to me that you haven't had your meal."

Then, they heard footsteps. A certain giant in white suit came toward them to join the conversation as he laughed.

"Hahaha… Tatara. So you have seen that bast*rd huh?" asked Yamori. "How does it feel? Does it feel good~? Hahahaha…"

"Yamori. You know that man?" Tatara glared at the snickering Yamori.

"Meh… you're still lucky. He still spared you in piece. Let me tell you! Actually, he's even worse than the torturer I've ever seen back in Cochlea. He quartered and dumped me from a tower." The giant spoke with boiling rage as he recalled Garou's beating at Aqua Tower. "He's a monster. But I swear. One day I will tear him from limb to limb! Like what he did to me!"

"I see," said Tatara nonchalantly. "So, he also did it to you."

"Hold on, guys…" said Eto as she raised her hands. "Can you tell me about this man you're talking about?"

"That man… No. He's a demon!" Yamori continued his rant as he punched a nearby pillar. "He could sent barrages of very strong and fast punches. My _kakuhou_ sacs were nearly blown out. And he could make blades to cut _kagune_ out of thin air."

"What!?" Eto was stunned by such ridiculous testimony. "Seriously!?"

"That's true." Tatara concurred with Yamori's words as he nodded. "He killed my men with such feats. His fists… He only used his bare fists to massacre people inside the warehouse. I saw his punches obliterated some of my subordinates. Their bodies were blown. Some others were minced. And… he also let others ran after he twisted their limbs or tore them off. It was insane. He turned our meeting place into a slaughter house."

The purple-hood kept silent as she was hearing Tatara's story. She still could not believe such kind of thing happened to her companions. If such monster existed in Tokyo, she should act fast and mobilize more people to stop the threat. Yet, she still thought that the new monster was probably a very strong SS-rate ghoul. A new rival of Aogiri to be exact.

"And my arm were destroyed before I could realize where he was." Tatara explained more while Yamori leaned on a pillar as he scowled. "My _kakuja_ form wasn't enough to protect me from his insane beating."

"What about Pavlov-_san_ and Sakuya-_san_? inquired Eto.

"I've ordered them to retreat. But that demon… He didn't let them pass and came with terrifyingly nasty plan. As I hid behind a roof to see what happened, he used Ichiro's arm to impale Pavlov's back. Then he tossed Ichiro's limped body to Pavlov's _kagune_, electrocuting her. Everything was over when Pavlov failed to discharge his thunder. Please forgive me."

"Well… That's not so nice." Eto responded as she turned around. "For now, we must focus on gathering more men. Secure our patrons. Then we can eliminate him later."

Tatara nodded while Yamori put a mischievous grin on his face. They were waiting for the day when they could take their revenge. Yet unlike Yamori, Tatara who always gave well-analyzed consideration worried Eto's rather casual response. He decided to word his concern.

"Eto-_san_, I think we should not take this threat lightly." Tatara said as he got a little bit tensed.

"Huh… What do you mean?" asked the petite ghoul.

"He is CCG's new pet," replied Tatara.

"So? Are you chicken?" mocked Yamori. "If he's that strong, what we must do is gang him up and it's over –"

"Quiet, Yamori!" Tatara was annoyed by Yamori's totally rash and idiotic idea. "What I mean is, we should raise our manpower. Recruiting highly experienced ghouls and _kakuja_s are our top priority. Seeing that he could bring down some of our operatives like swatting flies, our current state is far from enough if we face him."

Yamori scowled in response. He could only looked at Tatara with disdain. In his thought, the red-masked man was no more than a smart aleck who could secure a position in Aogiri Tree.

"So, the doves is banding together with an eagle, huh?" asked Eto. "I'll take your suggestion into consideration."

"To call him an eagle is an understatement." Tatara gave his opinion as he looked at the stump of his left arm. "How he defeated us… it's unimaginable. I think he uses some kind of martial art technique but it's… illogical. It's as if he used magic at the same time. I cannot describe it. It's like–"

"Quit your blabbering!" Yamori glared derisively at Tatara. "I think he's no more than a rabid dog–"

"Shut up, Yamori!" scolded Eto. "Magic? So, Tatara-_san_… Do you mean he's like a _phoenix_?"

"I think that's the best term to describe him," replied Tatara.

"A phoenix huh…?" said Eto as she hummed and nodding her head. "A mythical being, wields godly power. Doves and phoenix. Hmm…"

Some meters away from their meeting place, one of Yamori's subordinate was standing while eavesdropping their conversation. Suffice to say, he was the dandy version of Slicing She-man.

"Muhuhu… This is very interesting," muttered the man. "Phoenix, huh? I'll tell Itori about this."

"NICO!" Yamori shouted to call his underling.

"I'm coming, darling~," replied the man as he ran to see his boss.

* * *

Back at CCG's headquarter in 1st ward, The Bureau Director and a certain bespectacled investigator were sitting in a room. They had just received the news about the "miraculously successful" raid in Itabashi.

"Wow… 30 in a night!" Yoshitoki exclaimed as he skimmed through the printed report of the raid. "Not to mention that they took down two _kakuja_s."

"Actually it's not 'them'… It's 'him,'" Arima argued as he read a report he brought earlier about the golden-eyed man.

"Ah… you're right," Yoshitoki chuckled. "He's still new but he has contributed so much to us. I think I should reward him personally. What do you think?"

"Are you going to invite him to a dinner?" asked the bespectacled investigator as he glanced at the section on the paper titled "Daily Activities."

"Yes. Why?" asked Yoshitoki as he raised his eyebrows.

Arima who had just read some parts of the report was thinking. He was thinking about how he should not let Yoshitoki jinxed himself by inviting the demon into his house. Ihei's report suggested that the martial artist was a "natural wonder." He knew very well that his subordinate was trying really hard to write down her finding, especially the part about diet. He didn't want the Washuu to experience dreadful thing his valiant subordinate had witnessed. Or at least he didn't want to make Matsuri's mother pass out because of Garou's appetite.

"I don't think it's a good idea," replied Arima. "I heard that he really likes to eat alone. Besides, he prefers to study, rather than going out unless it's a mission."

"Oh, I see." Yoshitoki nodded as his lips curved into a content smile. "What a diligent man. He deserves more. So… What about if we appoint him as first-rank investigator?"

Arima blinked as he cupped his chin. From all the incoming reports, Garou had showed prowess above special investigators, all combined. But he was still a freshman, just like Juzou Suzuya. Putting him into third rank like the procedure seemed not proper since the man knew many things of investigation as suggested by Kureo Mado. And he was a very quick learner. Yet, putting him as first rank or associate special just because his astonishingly outstanding prowess would ignite uproar in CCG. Finally, second rank was the best choice.

"Chika-_san_, first rank would be too much for a newcomer," spoke Arima. "What about second rank?"

"Is it because you are afraid of arousing protests from investigators? Well, I'm aware of it. Indeed it's difficult." The Bureau Director responded as he smiled. "That's why I'll take your wise suggestion."

"And at least you can give him a sum of money as a form of appreciation."

"Don't worry. I've added it to my checklist." Yoshitoki replied reassuringly as he looked at a folder in front of him. "Okay. It's decided then. I'll make the draft and send it to father, tomorrow."

"Okay." Arima nodded lightly as a reply.

"Oh… Kishou, actually this is just my curiosity. Do you have any plan to add him to your squad?" Yoshitoki asked as he sorted some papers.

"Perhaps. But I need to test him first." Replied Arima as he continued to read Ihei's report.

"Sending him to 24th ward?" asked the Bureau Director.

"What else?"

"Good luck," said Yoshitoki. "I bet he will make more surprises and surpass your expectation."

"Thanks." Arima replied as he smiled.

Deep down, the bespectacled investigator wondered about Ihei's mental health. He hoped that she didn't get PTSD after completing her task.

* * *

It was late in the evening on 20th ward. An old man around his sixties was coming out from a building which appeared to be a cafe. He wore a black trench-coat and matching color hat. As he walked outside, a white-haired man with similar attire was waiting him under a tree.

"Where are we going, Manager?" asked the white-haired man.

"To the usual place at Toshima," replied the old man. "We must not take this rumor lightly."

"I see." The other replied with thoughtful look.

"Let's go."

They walked for some minutes to the border of 20th and 16th wards. When they arrived at a quiet street, the old man took out a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Yomo?" asked the old man.

"Very well. Take your time, Manager." The white-haired man who knew what his manager intended nodded and left the old man under the lamplight.

No more than five minutes later, three persons in suit came to see the old man. Their faces were covered with face-fitting spandex white mask.

"Long time no see, my old friend." One of the man greeted the manager warmly with opened arms. "What brings you here, Kuzen? Hmm, sorry. I mean… Yoshimura."

"V. I want to confirm the spreading rumor." The manager stated plainly as his old eyes looked at the person's eyes.

"Hoho… the rumor huh?" asked the man as he looked at his companions on his sides. "Well. Let's not rush into it."

"I don't have time for your joke." The old man replied calmly. "Just give me the info and I'll leave."

"If you really need this info, why you don't come back and join us?"

"I have no time, V."

"You turn down my offer? I think our business ends here then. Farewell."

"Good for nothing as always. Goodbye." The manager turned his back and left the meeting place.

"Hohoho… did I poke you too deep, Kuzen~?" said the white-masked man with a fake apologetic smile. "You should know who you are! But since you are my good-old partner, I will give you a general information. Because we are on the same boat."

Kuzen halted his step. He felt that this time, V would share a piece of the detail he needed.

"What do you mean?"

"He came out of nowhere. He's not our kin but he surpasses us," replied V. "He's very wild and so tempting at the same time."

The old manager furrowed his eyebrows. Yoshimura knew that the depiction about the man in some extent matched with the rumor. But there was one more terrible fact that would make him wanted to stay away from the said man.

"And I'm afraid that one day, he will wipe us all." V stated calmly as he looked at the surrounding.

"I see. Thank you," replied Yoshimura as he fixed his hat.

"And hope you still consider my generous offer."

Yoshimura left the place. When he passed an intersection, Yomo had waited him.

"Done?" asked the white-haired man.

The old manager hummed as he nodded. They went back home, bringing knowledge about a new threat. A threat which was still contained, waiting its time to rise as the pinnacle of terror.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Ah… finally, 6th chapter.

And finally, Aogiri men and Anteiku make their appearance.

Hope you like my story. Thank you so much for all your supports.

See you next time.


	7. A Deal With The Gourmet

**Author's Note**

Greetings, all my dear readers. Thanks very much for all your supports.

Before I start, here is a lesser story. Hopefully, this will answer some reviews from you, my dear guest reviewers.

….

Two men were walking on a street in 20th ward. The first was a bald man in his mid twenties, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with "OPPAI" logo on it. The other one was a tall blonde with scars on his left eye, dressed in similar pants and a flannel shirt. They were just strolling around that part of Tokyo during that morning.

"Hey dude, wanna grab some snacks?" asked the blonde as he looked at a cafe named _Anteiku_ in front of them.

"King…" said the baldy as he looked with his ever present dopey face. "You know that we were transported here suddenly? Do you think that I bring much money?"

"Don't worry, I'll treat you," assured the blonde.

"Okay," replied the bald.

When they entered the cafe, the customers as well as the waiters froze. The sight was so shocking and bizarre at the same time. King's _E__ngine_ suddenly active, triggered by people's gaze. The thumping sound surely made people dropped cold sweat. His scarred face couldn't help except adding their fear. But the tense situation somewhat neutralized by the presence of his bald companion. The egg-head appearance was hilarious. It was a paradox. And the person who would suffer the most was the one who should take the order from these two new customers.

"W-what the…" muttered a certain dark dark blue-haired teen girl. "W-who are they?"

"Um… Touka-_chan_," called a waitress from behind a desk.

Touka still froze on her place.

"Touka-_chan_~," called a very friendly waiter a little bit louder.

"Eh…!" Touka came back to reality. "I-Irimi-_san_, Koma-_san_?

The waitress who had regained her composure gestured by pointing her index finger toward the two new customers as the waiter grinned nervously. Touka gulped and reluctantly, took the menu book then walked toward the two. She didn't notice that customers' attention suddenly shifted toward her when she took her pace from the serving desk. If they were terrified enough to take a glance at King, how could this girl face such uneasy situation? As she walked, she heard weird thumping sound getting louder. Cold sweat trickled down her face. When she arrived, her face was as pale as a paper. Nervously, she asked the two customers who were chatting.

"E-e-excuse m-e…" asked Touka with trembling voice. "W-w-hat w-would you l-ike to or-der?"

When King heard the stuttering young lady, he looked at her then exchanged a glance with the bald hero. He knew that something wasn't right.

"Miss, are you alright? You shouldn't force yourself when you don't feel well." King's suggestion made the girl gasped while the customers looked at him with wide eyes. "You should take a rest."

"I-I'm fine, S-sir," replied Touka. "He-re are the me-nus."

"Are you sure?" asked the blonde as he took the menu list. "Well, if you insist… But we'll ask the manager to let you take a rest. Right, Saitama-dude?"

"Yeah. You look as if you're going to faint at any moment," replied Saitama as he showed his bland expression. "Don't overexert yourself."

"Ehehe… I'm okay. Really." Touka replied as she chuckled lightly.

'_Weird. __What's this? The scary-looking guy is really friendly__. __And the baldy…_' The girl screamed in her thought as she readied her pen and notebook while the two took their time to read the list. '_I__s he a human? __His __expression__ looks like a dead man'__s face__. __W__hy he's bald__? This world is totally sick!_'

"Um… Cappuccino and sandwich, please," said King as Touka scribbled down the order. "What about you, dude?"

"Fried potato and ice tea," replied Saitama plainly.

"O-okay. Anything else?" asked the girl.

"No. Thanks."

"Very well. I'll take your order. Please enjoy your time." Touka bowed and came back to the main desk.

Some of the customers sighed. They felt relieved because the scar-faced hero was unexpectedly very polite, unlike what they thought. As for Saitama, most of them only thought that he was just a weird guy. People became less tensed as King's Engine settled down.

'_So my engine scared her?_' mused King as he put his bag under the table. '_I never hope to have this thing. Please, forgive me…_'

The heroes continued their chat. King took out his phone to check some unanswered messages as he looked for wi-fi signal.

"Saitama-dude, do you know where Garou is?" asked King as he tapped his phone.

"Do you mean the monster cosplayer who destroyed my house? I don't know." Saitama replied, showing his bored expression as he gazed at the interior of the place. "Why asking me about that?"

"Lately, beside the news about the founding of Neo Hero Association, people in the internet are talking about his whereabouts and the mysteries behind his power." The scarred hero answered as he read some articles from Child Emperor he saved in his phone. "I thought you know where he fled after that battle."

"I'm not a psychic, mind you. We never know. Perhaps he's hiding in this city. Who knows." The baldy replied with a shrug. "Anyway, what are they talking about? I think their rambling would be around his rise as new monster in other universe and something like that."

"Hmm, you're right." King cupped his chin as he read a screen-shot from a chat forum. "They're talking about some possibilities of _isekai_, additional power and some bonuses he may acquire. You know something like DOOMSDAY, Wolverine, Adamantium etc… etc, Advanced Observation someone suggested his transfer to the universe ofSeraph of The End and Castlevania_."_

"King of this, ancient weapon of that, final evolution of something, sealed whatnot, whole universe whatever, so on and so forth… People can always dream that he is an undefeated guy. And perhaps he is. Just like his journey to MHA and RWBY."

"I think that answers all," responded King as he glaced at the serving desk which made Irimi a little bit uncomfortable. "So, why are we transferred here?"

"I don't have any idea. Maybe someone is messing with our universe."

They paused for some moments. Five minutes later, Touka came back, bringing their order.

"Sir, here are your order," said Touka as she served the foods.

"Ah… Thanks very much," replied King as he smiled.

After the young waitress came back to her post, the heroes enjoyed their food. As they had their snacks, their discussion continued.

"Hmm, what a peaceful place," exclaimed Saitama. "I bet there are no monsters here."

"Monster?" King raised his eyebrows while taking a sandwich. "About that, I just read an article from a local site, saying that in this city, monster do exist. They're called ghoul. But most people still believe that this ghoul is just an urban legend."

"Is it something like zombie from Hellsing and High School of the Dead? Or… is it something like Ajin?" asked Saitama as he took a bite. He just remembered that he hadn't returned King's manga which titles he just mentioned. "Actually, I wish to fight some supernatural beings like Pillar Men."

"Well, here… take a look." King handed his phone to Saitama. "What do you think? They look like human with weird appendages. And they do eat human. We never find this kind of thing back at home."

"Hmm, they don't seem really strong. I don't think that we can get any benefit if we hunt them." The baldy replied with bored expression.

"But an organization named CCG offered fabulous prize if there is brave vigilante who can bring ghoul. Dead or alive. The higher the rate of the ghoul, the better the prize they offer."

"What?! Seriously?! _Yosh_!" Saitama's face turned very serious as he punched his left palm, making a loud boom. The noise echoed in the room and shocked the customers. "Let's hunt these ghouls!"

"The hell was that!"

"What happened?!"

"Ughok–" A customer choked.

"Uwahh… honey… I'm scared."

Touka, Irimi and Koma were confused while trying to calm the panicking customers. They still could not find the source of the bang.

"Dude, you made a ruckus!" King whispered.

"Ugh, yeah…" replied Saitama also whispering. "Let's just finish our snack. Pay it, then leave."

King gave a thumbs up as he took his cappuccino.

….

Then… It's the main story's turn.

I do not own One Punch Man.

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| A Deal With The Gourmet |

* * *

The next day after the raid in 19th ward, CCG held a meeting and press-release related to the event at the warehousing complex. Itsuki Marude took the charge as the spokesman in the meeting.

…

"From the result of autopsy, we have confirmed the identity of the ghouls. Their names are as follows…" Marude then read the names of the ghouls killed that night as reporters made some notes while camera flashes filled the room.

"Sir, is it true that there were also very dangerous ghouls killed in the operation?" asked a pressman.

"Sir, did investigator Kishou Arima join the mission?" asked another newsman.

"Investigator Marude, how many ghouls escaped from the place?"

Remain composed, the CCG's spokesperson answered the questions bombarded at him, one by one. Everything went as planned and no weird question.

Previously, CCG had made some general rules about any information regarding the raid. Even CCG went as far as forbidding every investigator who joined in the event to talk anything to any people outside the commission. The secret behind the success should not reach the public. Fortunately, the press didn't get any idea about what was going on during the raid. The existence of the golden-eyed man was safe under wrap for the time being.

* * *

Later that night, investigator Taishi Fura was sitting on a bench outside the CCG headquarter. Together with him were a vending machine and chirping sound of crickets. He was thinking about the event at the warehouse complex. It still bugged his mind. As he took some gulp from his soda can, he saw a familiar figure coming toward him.

"Investigator Arima," greeted Fura as he stood and bowed.

"Yo. Just drop the formalities." The bespectacled investigator walked toward Fura and took a seat beside him.

"What brings you here, Arima?" asked Fura.

"Nothing. Just wanna have some fresh air." Arima looked around the paved yard as he leaned his back onto the bench. "Oh yeah. How's about Sasada-_san_?"

"She's fine. Like usual. Doing chores and serves her beloved husband," replied Fura as he smiled while Arima nodded in response.

Arima's question made Fura thought back about the event 12 years prior. It made him wonder about a "friend" he ever knew. After some minutes of pause, he asked Arima about what was in his mind.

"Arima…?" called Fura.

"Hmm, what?" asked the ace investigator as he tilted his head.

"Speaking of the new guy, do you still see him as a human?" inquired Fura as his face showed a hint of fear. "I mean… Do you believe that human can do such feats?"

"Do you mean Garou? That's the thing I want to answer," replied the ace nonchalantly.

"A-Arima… I'm totally at lost." Fura exclaimed as he looked at his hand. "He slaughtered 30 ghouls in less than thirty minutes. Two of them were _kakuja_s! And he killed them with his bare hands!?"

"That's the fact," replied the bespectacled man plainly. "I still cannot believe that he is a human. Even if he has passed the RC-scanner gate hundreds of times."

"Is he a ghoul?"

"I cannot confirm it either."

"Well, this makes my head hurt," said Fura as he pinched his bridge. "Anyway, mind to tell me the two _kakuja_s he killed?"

It was not a classified data. Arima thought that giving his friend a piece of such information in advance wouldn't be a problem.

"Hmm… The first is Ichiro Sakuya, aka _Akano Kabuto_. She's an S+ rate, _koukaku_ type ghoul. She preyed on people from suburban of 19th ward. Investigator is no exception."

"Ugh… That's scary." Fura commented as he grimaced at the thought of being eaten by _kakuja_. "What about the other one? I think it… No, he… He's the real deal."

"Precisely. Vasily Mikhailovich Pavlov. Known as the Zapper. A SS rate _kakuja_. The government of Russia had dispatched some special teams to hunt him but always failed. He was the mastermind behind Moscow Metro II accident, five years ago. Last time the Russian government tracked him, he was in Macao."

"What!?" Fura frowned at the mention of the information. "Was he doing something with the remnant of Chi She Liang?"

"Who knows. And not only that. Zapper had a very close connection with Priest," said Arima as he massaged his nape.

"So he's Donato Porpora's pal?" Fura said as he nodded. "And all of them were killed that night by Garou? What an unlikely end. Then, did Russian government gave any response?"

"This morning, some men from the embassy came to the HQ," replied Arima. "I don't know about the detail but I think they were talking about Zapper's body retrieval."

Fura nodded in response. It made him pondered about the concept of strength. Indeed, CCG had gathered investigators who possessed super-human ability. Arima was the real example. The special class investigators were also strong. But when Fura thought about Garou, it made him shuddered. He admitted that Arima was exceptionally powerful, compared to most investigators. As of Garou… He didn't dare to say anything about strength. The concept of strength Fura believed didn't work at all if applied to the newcomer. Fura could not shrug the shiver when he saw a human could outmatched ghouls in their peak monster form.

"Fura?" asked Arima.

"Heh…?" Fura came out from his pondering. "Oh… Sorry. I spaced out."

"Are you planning to stay here? Aki will be mad." Arima said as he smiled.

"Can't be helped. I still need to finish my report." Fura spoke, followed by a sigh.

"You're still slacking off. Just like in high-school."

"But I can still become an investigator," responded Fura with a triumphant smile as he stood. "Okay. Shall we go?"

"You go first. Let me stay here for little while." Arima replied as he took a more relaxed position on the bench.

"Very well. Take your time," said Fura as he left.

"And don't overthink about Garou."

Fura stopped his pace. He could only let out a nervous chuckle as he left Arima at the park.

'_This is getting interesting. Yet, you are still a mystery. Garou, what are you?_' Arima mused as he gazed at the shining full moon.

* * *

It was a nice day after the raid. In this warm morning, a silver-haired man in casual attire was walking alone on a quiet street around settlements. He went out to a bookstore in Nerima, just to wander around Tokyo and purchase doctor Hisashi Ogura's book. On his left hand was a paper bag and on the right one was a brochure. He had just spent a very meager amount of the allowance he got from CCG. His crazy achievement somewhat brought him fortune as well as fame among the investigators. Yet, his friends in the academy hadn't got any idea about what he did.

The golden-eyed man currently took his steps as he read the brochure. He got it from the bookstore. '_Why they have so much similarities to my world__?_' mused the martial artist as he looked at some pictures of Japanese castles in the brochure. It reminded him to some resorts, managed by Hero Association. The more he thought about it, the more he got interested by the wonder of this new world. His thought stopped when he saw a schoolgirl ran passing him while biting a toast. '_What is that? __I felt a sense of deja vu._'

The martial artist then continued his journey. As he walked in front of a playground, he saw some little boys were playing football. It seemed that they had a nice game until one of them kicked the ball too hard which made it landed in the foliage of a nearby tree. Hastily, they ran to the tree and tried to climb it. Despite their effort, no one managed to reach even the lowest branch. Kids from Tokyo, unlike their friends who lived in country, they were not accustomed to do such thing. The golden-eyed man actually wanted to see how these kids would solve their problem. But seeing how desperately the kids were trying to climb the tree, his patience ran out. He decided to give these whelps some "lesson." Of course he didn't intend to scare them.

"Yo. Need some help?" said the former Hero Hunter as he walked closer toward the kids.

"Whoah… Scary old man!" blurted a boy as he looked at Garou with very wide eyes.

"No way. A kidnapper… RUUUUN! screamed a boy as he took his leave in hurry, followed by three of his pals.

"Aaah, I don't wanna get caught by a demon!"

The martial artist's eye twitched. Only two of them left. The one was a snotty boy with very bland expression who seemed to not notice Garou's presence. The other was a kid with glasses, on the verge of crying. It appeared that these two were the losers among the six. Not really outcasts, but they never won every time they compete. Their pathetic state reminded the silver-haired man to his childhood which irked him to this day.

"Please, sir… don't take me and Kubota…" said the bespectacled kid as he sobbed.

Garou sighed. "Who said I want to take you?"

The martial artist walked to the tree and put his paper bag near its bark. He leaped from the ground and came a second later with the ball on his hand.

"Eh…? Kojirou… Look! The man took the ball." The snotty Kubota spoke to his friend as he pulled the boy's sleeve.

The boy in glasses who was still sobbing then looked at the towering figure of the man who held the ball on his right hand. His face didn't show any expression.

"Here." Garou said as he handed the ball to the kids.

"T-thanks, s-sir," said Kojirou as he took the ball.

"Thank you sir," said Kubota.

The martial artist smiled. Yet, he still needed to give the "lesson."

"Remember… Don't expect anyone to come and help you. You must rely on yourself." The martial artist said as he smiled. "See you."

As the martial artist gone, the two could only stare at his back. They still could not really understand what the man said but his action astonished them. His deed really inspired the kids.

"He's kind," remarked Kubota as his lips curled up.

"He's cool." Kojirou said as he also smiled while rubbing his tear. "I want to be like him."

* * *

After his "heroic" act at the playground, Garou continued his journey. As he continued to read the brochures while walking, he felt a sudden sensation of being watched. This time, danger was emanating from the source. '_Ghoul? It can't be. Hunting prey in a daylight is very unusual_._ But if they can lure their food into a quiet place… That's still possible. Does it follow me?_'

The martial artist then turned around to see no one on the street. But some seconds later, his peripheral vision caught a figure of an indigo-haired man clad in stylish attire. He seemed to walk joyfully or… rather narcissistic in some way. The man had just turned from the junction and walked behind the golden-eyed man. Garou narrowed his eyes and felt hidden murderous intent from the weirdo.

'_That must be him!_' The martial artist who stood on his track then looked around to see a passage leading to a construction site. The site showed no construction activity for some months. A devious grin adorned Garou's face as he walked toward it.

* * *

_**Ghoul**_. Most people believed that they were mysterious being who lurked inside the dark of the night, waiting for their prey. Human-flesh was the source of their nutrition. The most dangerous thing, they had same appearance as humans, and lived among humans.

An indigo-haired man was walking casually on a street near settlements. No one knew that he was one of the kind of this so called _ghoul_. His nose, as one of the predatory senses he used suddenly picked up an unusually strong aroma of human.

"Hmm, _tres bien…_ What an amazing aroma is this~?" muttered the indigo-haired man as his eyes rolled around to search for the source of the smell. "Ooh… the aroma is soooo tempting. It arouse my appetite."

As he continued his walk, a schoolgirl ran passed him. '_No. Not this one._' He kept his pace and the aroma grew stronger. When he took a turn, he saw a man with V-shaped hairstyle walked ahead of him. '_Could it be that he is…_' The ghoul sniffed and he was convinced that the man in front of him was the source of the delicious aroma. '_Ooh~… __What__a __lucky day!_'

The predator kept tailing the silver-haired man. When he saw the man turned into a construction site, for a second, a weird feeling came to him. He didn't know but as a human predator, the act of his prey was rather ridiculous. However, the carnivorous instinct inside himself shrouded his mind, leaving no place for any further thinking. As he continued to follow his prey, what was in his mind was an opportunity to have a super rare and delicious lunch. Because of such trait, his folks called him _The Gourmet_.

When Mr. Gourmet arrived at the site, he lost track of his prey but could still smell the very faint scent. At that moment, he felt the odd sensation came back. It was so weird. '_Le homme shouldn't __be__ this fast? Is he hiding?_' thought the indigo-haired man. '_Never mind. I will find you… hohoho_,' as a twisted smile formed on his face.

The ghoul continued his joyful hunt and entered the unfinished building. He kept sniffing to savor the aroma as he passed the stairs while looking around for his prey. The higher the floor, the stronger the scent. At last, he found his prey when he arrived at the fifth floor. There, the man was sitting on a stack of cement sacs while looking at another direction. His prey was sitting as if waiting for a bus.

"Yo!" greeted the man casually as he turned his face toward the Gourmet.

Before the indigo-haired man could reply the greeting, the odd feeling came back again. But this time, it felt so intense. The shining golden eyes of the man made him petrified. It had been long time since he felt such kind of dread. The last time he got that terrified was when he broke his father's favorite coffee cup.

As cold sweat rained down from Mr. Gourmet's face, purple _kagune_ came out from his right upper-back. The _koukaku_ appeared as his instinct alarmed for the incoming danger. His eyes turned into _kakugan._ In an instant, the _koukaku_ spiraled around his right arm and formed a big purple blade.

"H-who are you?" asked the indigo-haired man in fear as he swung around his arm and _kagune_.

"Who am I?" replied the silver-haired man with a question as he stood from his place. "I'm just a tourist who's sightseeing around Tokyo. See… Don't you think the scenery is nice from here."

Mr. Gourmet didn't expect such silly answer and scowled in response. His fear turned into annoyance. He thought that perhaps he was overthinking about his prey. Probably the golden-eyed man was just an ordinary human who would commit suicide since he only showed a poker face. Though he still could not shrug off his fear, he regained his composure. Just like an actor, he took a deep breath and forced out a smile.

"Well~… Indeed, this spot is very good for seeing the city." The indigo-haired ghoul responded the silver-haired man as he opened his arms forward. "But I'm afraid that you can't enjoy this beautiful sight anymore."

"Hoh… Do you think so?" replied the martial artist as the ghoul walked toward him while readying the _koukaku_ blade.

"_Bon appetit_!" blurted Mr. Gourmet as he lunged toward Garou to stab him.

Without much effort, the golden-eyed man evaded the attack. As he had just expected, the flesh-eater was sluggish. Seeing how narcissistic the ghoul performed all the move, the martial artist could not expect much. Meanwhile, the indigo-haired ghoul grinned when he knew his prey was no ordinary human. The tougher the prey, the tastier it would be.

The Gourmet then continued his attacks by slashing and thrusting his blade toward the martial artist. Garou kept dodging the attacks with minimal movements, just like what he did when he faced Spring Mustachio. The fight, if it could be called fight, went out until the ghoul was out of breath.

"Y-you… hah… h-how…?!" The man-eater said while panting heavily.

"Drained already, mister actor~?" asked the martial artist as he stood while crossing his arms. "I thought that you can give me a decent fight."

"Damn! I won't let you go!" Mr. Gourmet glared dagger at the martial artist as his _kakugan_ seemed glowed bright red.

After the ghoul regained his stamina, he rushed toward the martial artist while thrusting his blade. Garou looked disinterested and only stood on his place as the indigo-haired ghoul tried to stab him.

"MASTICATE!" shouted the ghoul as he charged.

"Shut up!" snapped the martial artist as he slapped Mr. Gourmet's face with the back of his hand.

For a fraction of second, the ghoul felt a stinging pain reverberated from his cheek to his entire face. He was shocked that the slap from the lost tourist was insanely powerful. The seemingly weak blow threw him from his initial course of his strike toward a concrete column. When he tried to move, his vision got blurry as his _kagune_ dissolved. He just realized that his left eye was not functioning. As he touched his swollen face, in the fuzziness of his sight, he saw the man with the glowing golden-eyes advanced toward him. He didn't know what would happen next but his mind kept telling him that the next would be a his demise. The martial artist then squatted to take something which appeared to be a wallet.

"Okay, let's take a look," said the martial as he opened the wallet while the ghoul was looking with terrified face. "Don't worry. I'm not a mugger."

The Gourmet grimaced as the silver-haired man rummaged his wallet. He knew that he didn't have any chance to fight back. The slap was more than enough to warn him that the tourist was not someone to mess around with. Perhaps if his bodyguard with him, the situation would be different. But he was alone. Any resistance would be futile. And the fact that the golden-eyed man took his belonging where he put his ID was something worse. Not only him, but his family was also being put at stake if the man was an investigator.

Garou then took out a student ID card and read it in front of the ghoul. "Shuu Tsukiyama… So you are a student from Kamii University, huh?" The martial artist raised his eyebrows. "Tsukiyama… If I'm not mistaken, it's a big conglomerate from Tokyo. Controlling vast amount of business corps and even has overseas companies. I never know that it's under control of ghouls."

"I… Please don't…" Tsukiyama begged as he lowered his head.

"Heh? Say it clearly!" The martial artist spoke as he raised his foot and stepped on the Gourmet's head, slowly.

"I beg you… Please don't harm my family…"

"You are ghouls. You chomped down humans. Did you spare your prey when they begged like when you are doing now? I'm sure you just ignored them, then you just munched up their tender flesh, right?" The golden-eyed man spoke as he pressed Tsukiyama's head to the floor. "Well, actually I'm just a tourist who don't care anything about ghoul or human's peaceful life. Simply, it's because I come from a place where death is a daily sight. But…"

Mr. Gourmet didn't responded as his head was pressed even more. His face gone numb due to the pressure.

"As something categorized as human, we find that you and your folks are aberration." Garou closed his speech by lashing out his hand to sever Tsukiyama's right hand.

"AAAGHHH." The Gourmet screamed while holding the stump of his hand as the martial artist let him jerked on the floor.

"Don't blame me, okay," said the martial artist with inexpressive face. "I'm just doing a self-defense against threat."

"Please… Please," begged the Gourmet as he wept. "You can kill me, but don't kill my family!"

"Are you scared that Tokyo will collapse due to your family's demise?" asked Garou as he smirked. "Or… are you afraid that a civilian like me will die if I see your family, merely because they are _kakuja_? How noble of you, Tsukiyama-_sama_!"

"JUST KILL ME NOW!" screamed the indigo-haired ghoul.

"Tsk, just shut up!" The martial artist kicked Tsukiyama toward the ceiling.

The ghoul fell to the floor and vomited blood. As his body convulsed due to the pain, the martial artist was still standing in front of him while still holding his wallet. Finally, he knew how terrible this tourist could be. Had he obeyed his gut feeling and didn't enter the site, he could come back to his mansion in 21st ward.

Meanwhile, Garou lost his intention to kill Tsukiyama after knowing how important the ghoul was. Investigator Mado ever gave him an advice to use any necessary mean to bring down any flesh-eater. Even if it's the most nasty trick he ever imagine. This time, if he could make use of this rich ghoul, it would be possible to hunt more ghouls who work for this very influential family. And hunting down business rival of Tsukiyama group would be another boon.

"KILL MEEE!"

"Well, Tsukiyama-_sama_, I change my mind. I think I'll spare you and your family." Garou said while still holding the ghoul's wallet "But there is one condition."

"Ugh… Then, tell me." The ghoul spoke as he was still lying on the floor. "If it's money, I can give you."

"Nope. Remember, I'm not a mugger. Actually, do your family have enemies in business?" asked the golden-eyed man nonchalantly. "If that's the case, I can offer you some assistance."

"A-are you a hit man?"

"You can say so." The former Hero Hunter replied as he crouched near the Gourmet. "Anyway, back to my question, do you have any adversary who stall your business? Is there any other ghoul you want to eliminate? I'm sure, ghouls are also fighting each other to defend their territory and resources."

"If I give you their names, what are you gonna do?" inquired Tsukiyama. "And what's the benefit I can get?"

The martial artist had devised a plan to deceive the Gourmet. He thought about some possible scenario of someone who was trapped by a criminal syndicate. He knew that Tsukiyama could still pull out the logic of a businessman despite his rather severe condition. It impressed Garou. That's why he should make a convincing story. '_Let's use the fake data given by Amon for my ID_,' thought the silver-haired man. '_It's not a pain, right? __And let's poke him a little._'

"Before we sign our contract, let me tell you my background. Back at Nagasaki, I was just a normal kid." The martial artist started his story although he hadn't had the idea about the situation in Nagasaki. "But one day, a group of _y__akuza_ killed all my family. I nearly managed to escape but in the end, I was caught. After that, they forced me to join them. I couldn't resist and I just complied. I was trained to become an assassin. And weirdly, I enjoy it. As time goes by, I'm not only dealing with human. Slowly, my kills also extend to your kin. I think it's fun because they die hard–"

Tsukiyama could not believe that such man did exist. An investigator who enjoyed killing ghoul is worse. But a hit man who killed ghoul for fun? It's totally unforgivable. Garou's story made him really mad as his _kakuhou_ sac twitched.

"DAMN YOU, PSYCHO!" Mr. Gourmet's coil-like _kagune_ burst and sprung its way toward the golden-eyed man, only to be pinched casually with his hand which still gripped the wallet.

Garou grabbed Tsukiyama's neck tightly with his free hand in retaliation as he continued his story while smirking. "Oh… It feels so great, every time I can see a ghoul desperately defending themselves using their _kagune_, only to be killed with some punches and kicks to wreck their _kakuhou_ sac. Hehehe… hahaha…"

The indigo-haired ghoul could only bar his teeth under the clutch of the silver-haired man. He didn't expect that his supposed regular hunt would pull him into a dangerous gambling with a ghoul slayer. The assassin forced him to wager the safety of his family. If he complied, there was no guarantee that the man would spare his family. It was a total loss for his side. Yet, judging by the appearance of the man, Tsukiyama was sure that the man was a hardheaded psycho who would never cease any effort to achieve his goals. Refusing the offer wouldn't also help. It left him no choice.

"Very well." The Gourmet complied as he looked at the golden-eyed man. "Then, what should I do?"

The golden-eyed man let loose the grip from Tsukiyama's neck. "For now, let me take this."

Garou took two of Tsukiyama's business cards from the wallet. He put one of them to his pocket as he took a pen. Mr. Gourmet could only give a puzzled look as the martial artist wrote down his phone number onto the back of the card.

"Call me tomorrow at 7 pm. We'll talk about the details." The martial artist said as he put the wallet and the card onto Tsukiyama's left hand.

"And what if I don't call you?" asked the indigo-haired ghoul as Garou stood and took his leave.

"I'll make you see what I've seen," replied the golden-eyed man as he tilted his head and glanced at the ghoul. "See you, Tsukiyama-_sama_."

Tsukiyama gulped as he stared at the figure of the assassin. He knew that the man was serious. There was no turning back at this point. He had placed his family onto the grip of a madman.

'_Shuu, what have you done…?_' thought Mr. Gourmet as he stared blankly toward the ceiling. '_Should I tell father about this?_'

Slowly, the indigo-haired ghoul stood up and took his phone. For the time being, he needed to think carefully about his next move and consider some solutions. Tsukiyama then dialed one of the number in his phone. Going back home was the first step to solve the problem.

"Matsumae. Can you pick me up? I'm at a construction site in Nerima. It's not far from the campus."

[Understood. I'm heading there now, young master.]

"Thanks."

As Tsukiyama walked down the stair, his right hand had grown back. Indeed, life's tough. He didn't know what kind of fate would befall his family. Did he just put the people he loved into a great danger? Did the man really mean it? Was he too afraid and powerless that the man could pull up a serious prank? Or… Could it be that the man had a more terrible plan in store with unimaginable outcome. Mr. Gourmet could only put those questions into the back of his mind as he walked down the stairs.

* * *

Unbeknownst to both Garou and Tsukiyama, later that night, an accident took place at the site where they met. It involved the ghoul Garou had beaten for the first time and a certain boy he saw at Kamii University. The detail of the accident remained mystery. Only time would tell, what kind of fate fell upon the boy.

* * *

**A****uthor's Note**

Okay. It's the seventh chapter.

I hope you enjoy my story. Thanks very much for reading.

See you in the next story. ;-)


	8. Bonus Story 1

One Punch Man and Tokyo Ghoul… I don't own both of them. They belong to their creators.

Bonus Story I

* * *

'_It's been three days after I arrived at this city. My search for Saitama-sensei after the demolition of City Z leads me to this place. Tokyo is it's name. It reminds me to the old City A and __C__it__y C__. Nothing really different. The people, what they do, and even what they eat are just the same. Only the situation __and __which __make them different. __This place felt so peaceful despite the hustle and bustle of its populace._"

A certain black-haired martial artist was walking on a street in Nerima. Donned in casual attire, he didn't stood out from the fellow pedestrians that morning. Yet, his very attractive look caught the attention of the passersby, especially the ladies. Every time they look at him, they got bewitched by his charm. It made them blushed. Fortunately, he had some dentists mended his teeth right after the destruction of City Z. That's why he could put his mesmerizing smile along the way.

As the man walked while people looked at him in awe, he saw a violet-haired lady walked in front of him. She was still far. But his eyes kept staring at her delicate feature. He didn't know why, but he was interested by her. That's why he decided to tail her.

Some minutes later, the lady turned into a building. When the martial artist came in front of it, a very wide smile appeared on his face. His reason for coming out from the hotel this morning was because the breakfast wasn't really appealing. And seeing a girl who came into a cafe while he was hungry… It was just like a dream.

'_Having breakfast with a chick… This can't be real!_' The martial artist mused as he stepped on the stairs, leading into the cafe named _Anteiku_.

The moment the bell above the door rang, nearly every eyes in the cafe turned toward the new customer. An old waiter who was working behind the serving desk also looked at him as he smiled. Perhaps for a moment, such young man with vitality reminded him to his young self.

Most of the customers thought that the guy was an Italian. And very handsome one since the ladies' cheeks turned red when they looked at him.

However, the martial artist didn't really care their reaction. His goal had been decided. To have a breakfast with the violet-haired lady. There, he found her, sitting alone while reading a book. When he saw her, he should admit that she was beautiful and looked matured. She wasn't distracted despite the chattering around the place. Like what he thought, she was special. Judging by her look, she was a college student. And a diligent one. Her glasses said so.

Without any more thought, he came to her desk. He put his hand on the chair before he greeted her.

"Hello. Is it okay if I sit here?" said the man.

"Oh, hi… huh…" The lady paused for a moment when she switched her sight from the book to the man before her. She was surprised to see a foreigner. "Umm… sure."

"Thanks," replied the man as he took his seat.

As the martial artist opened a conversation with the violet-haired lady, the girls around the place were cursing her. She had stole the handsome guy. Meanwhile, a blonde boy and his black-haired buddy who sat some meters away were talking about the event they saw.

"Hey, Kaneki! Just give up. You won't have a chance." The blonde said as he snickered.

"Hide, you're mean!" The brunette remarked as he pouted and crossed his arms. "Is it wrong for me to try?! I think she has same hobby."

Hide sighed. "Aw… Kaneki. Now, look!" said the blonde as he grabbed his pal's shoulder.

"What?" asked Kaneki as he tilted his head to see the man. "Nothing special."

Hide facepalmed in response. "Indeed. You're still naive. Can you see his well-built body? That tanned skin? Those giant arms? Those big hands? And those blue eyes?"

"So?" replied Kaneki casually.

"OF COURSE WOMEN WILL FALL FOR HIM!"

Hide's half yelling made Kaneki closed his ears while people stared at them. The martial artist and the violet-haired lady were no exception.

"Ahem…" Hide cleared his throat. "Sorry. What I mean is… Woman will always seeks man who can give them security. It's their nature. Well… you still need to learn more, Son."

"Stop acting as if you're my father!" Kaneki pouted while Hide let out a laughter.

As the boys continued their talk, the martial artist also enjoyed a nice conversation with the bespectacled lady. She seemed pleased by his company.

A dark purple-haired waitress then came out from the door with "STAFF ONLY" sign on it. She carried some bags of coffee beans to the serving desk.

"Here are the beans, Manager," said the young waitress to a working waiter.

"Ah, thanks, Touka," said the manager as he smiled. "Now, would you like to take some order from our customer? We have some very special guests now?"

"Okay," replied Touka casually.

She didn't really mind what did the manager mean. When the martial artist came, she was still inside the storage room to take the coffee beans. That's why the young waitress just walked casually and didn't know what had happened.

"Excuse me," said the waitress. "What would you like to have, Sir?"

"Hmm… Let me see." The man took the menu book the waitress offered and read it.

While the man browsed the menu, Touka took a glance at the man and widened her eyes. She didn't notice that there was a very good-looking foreigner in front of her. Her wide eyes suddenly turned into a frown when she saw who was accompanying the man. She knew who was the lady. When Touka glanced at her, she only put an innocent smile as a response.

'_Damn_…_ He's a dead man._' The waitress mused as she readied her notebook and pen.

"Espresso and sandwich, please," said the man as the young waitress jolted back to reality.

"Uh-huh. Anything else?" said Touka as she wrote down the items.

"I think… That's all. Thanks."

"Okay. Take your time," said the waitress as she bowed.

"Oh wait," asked the man. "Can I ask you something?"

"Um… sure." The purple-haired girl came back near the desk.

"Actually, I'm searching for someone," said the martial artist as he showed a photo of a certain bald hero. "Did you see this man?"

Touka gasped. The sensation when she saw the baldy and his scary-looking companion was still fresh in her mind. A bad feeling started to creep in her. '_Are they some fugitives? This is bad…_' thought the girl. The fear on her face was noticeable. It made the martial artist narrowed his eyes in concern.

"Um… well. It's okay." The man spoke as he softened his expression. "I don't want to force you. If you see him, please, just let me know."

"Uh… actually…"

Touka wasn't sure how she would answer it. Some bad thoughts flooded her mind. The foreigner could be a detective who was chasing some criminal. There were also possibility that these men are ghouls while the foreigner was a special investigator from Europe. And the fact that the man got chummy with the violet-haired lady was another predicament. Yet, she was also curious about it. The identity of the baldy and the scar-faced man was really bothering her. Finally, he eased her mind by thinking that probably, they were just some colleagues in business. And maybe she was right.

"Yes?" said the man as he put the photo on the table while the violet-haired lady looked at him curiously.

"He came here… two days ago," said the waitress with a hint of uncertainty.

The martial artist furrowed his eyebrows. "Did he came alone?"

"No. He came with his friend."

"What did he look like?"

"He's tall and… scary," answered Touka as she scratched her cheek.

"Scary…?" The man put a thoughtful look. "Is it something like… scar on the face?"

"Y-yeah you're right. He has scratch scar on his left eye. And, I heard weird thumping noise when I saw him." Touka described the most shuddering thing she ever experienced during her part-time job.

'_King…_' thought the martial artist as he nodded. '_That ability. It must be him._'

"I see. Well… if you see him again, please contact me." The man spoke as he handed the photo to the girl.

Touka flipped the photo and found the name "Suiryu" written on it. Under the name was a phone number. When she flipped the photo again, she saw the name "Saitama" printed near the bottom edge. It made her confused.

"Um… S-Suiryu-_san_?" asked the dark purple-haired waitress with questioning look.

"Yes?"

"Is this man's name… Saitama?"

"Yeah. His name's Saitama," replied the martial artist.

Touka nearly snorted as she put the photo to cover her mouth. Meanwhile, the violet-haired lady smiled awkwardly at the mention of "Saitama." It made Suiryu confused.

"Hey… what's wrong?" asked Suiryu. "Is it something funny?"

"S-sir, a-are you sure?" inquired Touka as she suppressed her laughter. "Is the man's name correct?"

"Yes. His name is Saitama," answered the martial artist as he gave confused look. "Why?"

Touka giggled while the lady smiled.

"Suiryu-_san_. I never know that there is someone who shared name with a prefecture in Japan." The lady chimed in.

"I see. So, his name is a name of a region in here, huh?" muttered Suiryu.

"V-very well. I'll let you know if I see him," said Touka as she regained her composure.

"Thanks a lot. I'm looking forward to it."

"Oh… Sorry. Please, excuse me," replied Touka as she came back the serving desk.

As the dark purple-haired waitress excused herself and left their desk, the lady and the martial artist continued their conversation.

"Wow. That's very funny." The lady remarked as she fixed her glasses. "You are a foreigner and you can speak Japanese fluently? That's amazing."

The man could only chuckled as a response. He always do that every time he went out with girl and he didn't have any idea about what they were talking about. As a matter of fact, he chuckled because he was in complete darkness about Japan. It was a name he never heard before.

Then, he just realized that he didn't know the name of the lady.

"Umm, since you know my name, can I also have your name, Miss."

"Oh. I' sorry. I haven't introduce myself." The lady said as she looked Suiryu's eyes. "My name is Kamishiro. Rize Kamishiro."

"Wow. What a beautiful name," praised Suiryu.

"Oh. You are flattering me."

Some of the female customers who heard that gritted their teeth. How could the man fall for such four eyes. She must be an evil hag who preyed on handsome guys. It made them really furious. Yet, it seemed that both Rize and Suiryu didn't really care the surroundings. They kept chatting until the martial artist used his usual technique beside his Void Fist to hit his target.

"Umm, Rize-_san_." Suiryu glanced at the glass window for a second and look at Rize's eyes. "Actually, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Hmm, no. Why?"

"Well… if it's not too much. Would you like to go out with me?"

Rize gasped in response. "R-really…?" She couldn't believe what had just been said by the martial artist.

"Yeah."

"Well. Actually, I always have trouble when I'm interacting with guys. This… This is my first time a man–"

Suiryu put his hand on the lady's hand. It made her blushed. It looked natural but he never knew what was in her thought.

"You can decide about where and when we'll go out." Suiryu put a hearty smile. "I'm still new here, so… Would you like to become my guide?"

"Oh… o-okay. What about tomorrow?" asked Rize. "I'm free at 4 pm. What about you, Suiryu-_san_?"

"Well, tomorrow I'm free. And at 4… I think that's great. Then, where we'll meet?"

"Do you know Kagemiya shopping center? It's not really far from here. I'll see you in front of it."

"Kagemiya shopping center, huh?" asked Suiryu as he made a mental note about it. "It's settled then."

Both of them smiled widely. For Suiryu, it's his first time to go out with a smart girl. For Rize, it's a different story though.

* * *

_36 HOURS LATER… 20:30_

* * *

The martial artist and the violet-haired lady came out from a mall in Nerima. On their hands were some shopping bags. The contents were books and some clothes. Suiryu was happy and surprised. Unlike most girls he went out with during his countless dates, Rize didn't spent much of his money. Even at first, she refused his offer to pay all her expenditure. It made him thought that perhaps he would stick with her a little longer. It's a waste to dump such nice and meek girl. As they walked toward a rather crowded area in front of the mall, the lady looked at the martial artist as she smiled.

"Suiryu-_san_," called the lady as she stopped her pace. "Thank you so much for accompanying me. It was so great!"

"Shouldn't the one who said so was me?" replied the martial artist as he smiled widely. "If you said that it was great, then I'll say it's wonderful."

They chuckled heartily. Indeed, during that evening, they had good times. Although Suiryu was not really into books, the fact that he was totally new to this world somewhat forced him to enjoy what Rize enjoyed at the bookstore. Mostly, he looked at politic, art, and geography section. And it made his jaw dropped when he realized that the world was totally different than his home world, unlike what he thought earlier.

Knowing that Suiryu was a foreigner who had just discovered some new things about Japan, Rize smiled and suggested him some books about her country. But one thing that caught his interest were books about martial arts. He decided to buy one about karate which made Rize happy. She was pleased because she had heard his story he shared in _Anteiku_.

After that happy hours and a nice dinner which weirdly, only Suiryu who enjoyed it, the time to part ways had come.

"Then, Rize-_san_, are you going home?" asked the martial artist.

"Yes. I'm going home. Thanks very much, Suiryu-_san_."

"Well, I think I can walk you home." The martial artist offered his kindness toward the lady. "I'm free. Besides, I want to see more of Tokyo."

"Is… Is that really okay?"

"Yeah. Lead the way."

"Thank you," thanked Rize as she took her pace.

After some minutes of walk while chatting, they passed a settlement complex. Under the lamplight, Rize stopped and looked at a small path which lead to a railway and construction site.

"What's wrong, Rize-_san_?"

"Umm, Suiryu-_san_… Actually, my house is not really far from here, but…"

"But?" inquired Suiryu.

"Lately, there are cases of murder on the street." The lady replied as she looked down. "It's not really safe. And I heard that that the murderer was ghoul?"

The martial artist frowned a little bit at the mention of _ghoul_. What he thought when he heard about such term was something related to monster from some myth. Or maybe it's just a local term to say about some criminal who rob people after sundown. If that was the case, it was no big deal for him. He would just unleash his Void Fist to finish these thugs if he ever found one. But to make sure, he needed to ask Rize.

"Ghoul? Is it some kind of gangster?"

"No!" Rize replied with strong denial as she shook her head. "It's monster. And they eat human!"

"Monster who eats human?" muttered the martial artist as he cupped his chin.

For a moment, he thought about what did it look like and how strong these ghouls might be. But suddenly he ignored such thinking as adrenaline flowed down his veins. His instinct as a fighter was active all of sudden. It had been a while since he fought monster. After he was saved by Saitama, he vowed to become a hero. To find a hidden threat after he stepped his feet on a city which seemed peaceful… It must be a blessing. This must be the chance for him to protect someone from a danger. A hero's job, indeed. A very wide smile rose on his face.

"Don't worry. No big deals," said Suiryu as he showed an assuring smile. "I've faced something worse than this."

He was not lying. If categorized with ghoul rating, perhaps Bakuzan and Gouketsu would sit on SSS rate. The other monsterized fighters? At least they were A+.

"S-Suiryu-_san_… I-I cannot express my gratitude anymore… I..." Rize stuttered and looked at Suiryu as if she was going to cry.

"It's okay. Come on. Just show me the way." The martial artist replied as his free hand grabbed the lady's wrist gently and started to walk her toward the path.

The display of chivalry didn't go without witness. From afar, two school girls were walking while chatting. One of them had orange hair while the other one was the part-timer at Anteiku. Tuuka saw Suiryu when he took Rize to the narrow pathway. When these girls walked in front near the passage, Touka stopped for a moment to see Suiyu's and Rize's backs.

'_Please forgive me, Suiryu-san…'_

"Touka-_chan_, is there something?" asked the orange-haired girl.

"Umm… Nothing, Yoriko." Touka shook her head as she smiled to her pal. "Let's go."

* * *

Some minutes after they entered the pathway, between a construction site and a railway, Rize stopped. Suiryu only thought that perhaps she would say something important. Like… she wanted to reject him? Soon enough he would find out.

"Suiryu-_san_…" said the lady shyly as she paused to come closer to the martial artist. "I-I'm so glad that we can go out."

"Ah… Same as me."

Rize then hugged Suiryu's imposing form as a train passed. The light from the iron snake shone upon them as the martial artist wrap her with his arms to return the form of affection. But suddenly, he sniffed a weird aroma. Something smelled like iron. When he glanced at Rize, she was biting his upper-left arm. He didn't feel any pain though. He only thought that perhaps the violet-haired lady was somewhat turned-on and could not restrain her… fetish.

On the other hand, the lady was trying really hard to bite the Super Fight Champion's arm. She felt as if she was biting a concrete slab. His aroma was tempting though, but if she could not tear them, what would she do? Certainly, she would release her main weapon. Before she unleashed it, she jolted out form his embrace which startled the martial artist.

"Rize-_san_…?"

"I'm sorry, Suiryu…" The lady showed her true identity in the form of her _kakugan_ as a maniacal grin adorned her face. "Actually–"

"So you're the murderer, huh? And a monster as well?" The martial artist spoke nonchalantly as he smiled while putting off his sleeveless jacket near his shopping bags. "Actually, I've seen monsters who were worse and uglier than you, Rize-_chan_. Now, seeing a monster in the form of a pretty girl? This is my wildest dream! Please, make me feel happier than ever! I love meek ladies, but stubborn girl is actually my type!"

"Hehehe… I'll take that as a compliment!" Rize exclaimed as she unleashed her _rinkaku kagune_. "You know that other than reading books, I like to eat a muscular men like you!"

The female ghoul laughed maniacally as she whipped the martial artist with his tentacle-like _kagune_. Suiryu dodged the attack without much movement. It made the ghoul whipped him even more. But suddenly, she just realized that her _kagune_ had been deflected to the side. The martial artist started to go offensive. Before she could move to make a closer strike, a strong kick to her right shoulder had thrown her to the side. It made her went through the covering of the construction site. She landed near some cement sacs with loud thud. Her glasses had fallen somewhere. As her _kagune_ dissolved, she saw Suiryu jumped in from the hole she made like it was nothing. His smile was still present and it made the female ghoul cowering in fear. She had just realized that she was wrong in picking her dinner.

"Oh… Rize-_chan_~… The game is not over yet!" called Suiryu like he was singing. "I never hit ladies, you know. But you're very naughty. Now, be a good girl!"

When Rize's eyes made contact with Suiryu's, she activated her _kagune_ again. But before she could attack, the martial artist had closed his range in a speed her eyes could not register and sent a forward kick to her stomach. She vomited blood as she was sent flying further. Yet Suiryu's kick accidentally saved her from the thing which came right after that. Some steel beams suddenly fell down onto the martial artist. She didn't see him moved when they fell on him. A victory for the ghoul? Perhaps.

'_Huh…? __Did he move? Is he dead?_' thought Rize as a smirk of a victor started to form on her face.

"Hehehe… Hahaha….!" Rize's hysterical laughter echoed around the site as she made a _yandere_ face. "Humans like you won't survive! NOW, LET ME EAT YOU!"

However, it seemed that luck was on Suiryu's side. The violet-haired ghoul was silenced by the creaking noise of the metal beams. The martial artist suddenly rose from under the beams and lifted one of them over head. He threw it on his side like it was just a box. He came out unscathed despite being crushed by some tons of metal. Not to mention that it fell from a 30 stories level. As he glared at the shocked Rize, he ripped his black T-shirt to reveal his ultra-durable biological armor. His perfectly built abs which protected him from the crashing metal and the ghoul's teeth.

_~AAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA…~_

(_Jojo' Bizzare Adventure [Awaken] Pillar Men theme song playing in the background…_)

"H-H-H-How…!?" Rize was shaking as her _kakugan _turned back to her normal eyes out of fright.

"Do you think this kind of thing can stop me?" inquired the martial artist as he cracked his fingers while hopping from the scattered beams in front of him. "Once, some monsters nearly killed me. And a hero came to save me. He's Saitama! The bald guy you saw on the photo yesterday. Since that day, I train harder to become stronger. And just now I realize, the crashing beams only felt like falling books."

"I-I-Impossible_…_" Rize stuttered as her body trembled in terror.

"Just forget about this, okay! Actually I don't want to hit you. And you know, Rize-_chan_? The night is still young." The martial artist said while smirking as his hands reached his belt buckle. "Let's have some fun!"

"NO …. NO…. NO …. KYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of Tokyo, a certain black-haired boy was reading Sen Takatsuki's work comfortably, inside his quiet apartment. At the moment, the Kamii University student had reached the paragraph which questions about the meaning of human's life in _Egg of The Black Goat_. It made him pondered about his relationship with Hideyoshi Nagachika, his closest friend. All of sudden, his musings about his beloved friend was cut by a faint feeling of uneasiness.

'_Why I have this bad feeling. Well… Hope that nothing bad happens,_' thought Kaneki as he continued to read the novel.

* * *

**Ghoul Hunter Bonus Story I  
****Unlikely End of A Beginning**

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hello, Hello… XD

Nice to see you again, my dear readers.

I write this chapter simply because I haven't had any idea about what should I write for the main story. XD... So, I meddle with the question about: "What if Kaneki never went out with Rize?" And, this story is my answer. Also, I plan this story as the continuation of the lesser story I put in the 7th chapter.

Poor Rize… She got beaten badly by mad Garou and now, forced to have some "fun" with the master of Void Fist. I cannot imagine what kind of face formed on Nimura Furuta when he saw such scene from above.

Hope you like the story and let me know what you think. See you next time ;-)


	9. A Picnic to V14

**Author's Note**

Greetings, all my dear readers. Thanks very much for all your supports.

Firstly… Change of rating. It's because… The battles drain more blood.

And like usual, let me answer some dear Guest Reviewers…

1\. Shadow Stalker  
Indeed. Tsukiyama is really unlucky. :-D

2\. Frekazoid  
You're right. He's just a mindless degenerate.

3\. (Garou in Monster Musume universe.)  
Sorry. Though this idea is interesting, I don't have the ability to make this one.

4\. (Let Suiryu do something with Rize.)  
Yup. The champion deserves the premium product of Washuu clan.

5\. (Some plots like "Research and Smoothies.")  
Fortunately my spirit has come back, so I can stick back with my original idea. But anyway, thank you very much for the idea. I appreciate your help. ;-)

6\. (For my dear _Senor_ who gave a very long and comprehensive review.)  
Uhmm… I'm so sorry. Every time I translated your review, I cannot piece the meaning correctly. If I'm not mistaken, you give me some calculation about powers and abilities of heroes from OPM universe. It's very sad that I cannot speak Spanish. But anyway, _gracias_.

And thank you so much for all your support, my dear readers. I appreciate all your ideas and comments for this story.

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man.

I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.

One Punch Man belongs to ONE.

Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| A Picnic to V14 |

* * *

Days went by. The former Hero Hunter had been enjoying half of his first semester in the academy without much problem. Thanks to Amon's advice, Garou could slowly cope with his friends who idolized him. At least, he was not stressed anymore by their antics. Admiration and flattering had become rained on him every time he showed his ability as a prodigy in learning every major. He only shrugged in response without any intention to dis them. Yet, his casual response only made them respected him even more as his popularity rose in the academy.

The Bureau Director also knew about that. He always monitored the ultra rare seed who was under the care of his organization. The martial artist was indeed a very rare sample, found accidentally. The recent display of ability convinced Yoshitoki that Garou was a perfect successor for Kishou Arima. An ultimate weapon if CCG ever wanted to wage an open war against the flesh-eaters. The golden-eyed man would become a perfect solution to end the source of current headache, Aogiri Tree.

However, before that, the Bureau Director needed to follow the procedure. He had the ace investigator to put the martial artist into a usual test for new recruit. Route V14 or the 24th ward was the place where the event took place. The ward in reality was a tunnel network under 20th ward, famous as a hiding spot for man-eaters. Many young investigators who were in training or assigned in missions over there never made it back. That was why senior investigators should assist the juniors. They took big responsibility to keep the investigator in training from danger while showing them how to deal with it.

In the case of the silver-haired man, the condition would be different. Yoshitoki put Arima as a leash for the former Hero Hunter.

* * *

The night had come. The golden-eyed man at this occasion ventured to Nerima, accompanied by a certain hulk. Donned in Blizzard-Bunch-like attire, they took a subway from 5th ward to reach their destination. On their way, they didn't talk much. Actually, Garou wanted to thank Amon for his advice. But he found that the tall investigator was not really in mood. He looked a little bit gloomy that night.

The martial artist didn't really know why, but lately after he started to enjoy his life in the academy, he felt a weird change in himself. He grew some kind of attachment towards people. He felt his sympathy towards other grew as well. And it made him wanted to know what people feel. A slight feeling of guilt welled up when he remembered about his past in his old world. His hero hunting was his unforgettable dark past. He ruminated about it as the train sped towards Nerima station.

When they arrived at the station, instead of going out to the upper-ground, Amon led him to a hidden passage near the subway track. The passage brought them to an underground staircase. The former Hero Hunter was surprised by the sight. The dim light, humid air, temperature, and the circumstance, all of them was so reminiscent of Monster Association hideout in Z City.

* * *

Their silent journey was over when they reached the entrance of a tunnel network. In front of its metal fence, they saw some investigators who had arrived. There were Yukinori Shinohara, Kousuke Houji, Take Hirako, and… Juuzou Suzuya. The were also another five investigators Garou hadn't ever met. As the hulk and the demon came toward them, some of them gave a warm greeting.

"Oh, Amon," greeted Shinohara as he waved his hand. "Garou-_kun_."

Houji and Hirako smiled at the two as they came. The _Doujima_ wielder then bowed, followed by the martial artist. Garou actually wasn't the kind of person who liked formality. Yet, because he was under the care of an organization which took him, he should follow their rule. At first, it felt weird. As of now, he got accustomed. Amon's mentoring and the lessons from the academy at last had some effect on Silver Fang's former top disciple.

Following the friendly investigator, the thin boy greeted Amon and Garou. His childish grin was the form of kindness he could offer for the hulk and the demon.

"Oh, hey… It's the giant boy and the old man!" Juuzou waved his hand. "You also come! This is great!"

"… Suzuya-_san_," The giant replied coldly as he went to see Shinohara and his friends.

"Suzuya…" said the martial artist as he hunched to see the boy closer while he smirked. "Or, should I call you… Juuzou-_chan_."

Garou wanted to mock the boy. The the golden-eyed man thought that the additional '-_chan_' would make most people annoyed. Or worse, they would get angry like most _tsundere_ does. Yet, the boy's response was totally unexpected. Hearing the '-_chan_' addition, Juuzou smiled widely and spontaneously hugged Garou. For the former Hero Hunter, it was unbelievable and shocking. He didn't know that his action only spoiled the boy. Garou could not see it as a nice outcome since he never got such form of affection. And it became awkward when the investigators stared at them.

"Oi, oi, oi… What are you doing?!" Garou thrashed around to loosen Jozou's tight hug. "Let me go… you! Hey…"

"Hahaha… Wee… This is so fun!" The hair-clipped boy didn't loose his arms while the man turned around frantically as he tried to grab Juuzou.

Some of the investigators chuckled in response upon seeing the scene. Somewhat, Amon was also amused by that.

"Wow, I don't know that Juuzou can stick with him easily," said Shinohara as he looked at Amon.

"Hmm. I think so," replied Amon plainly. "I didn't expect that."

"Well, I hope that we can go out to eat _udon_ together again," commented Houji as Hirako nodded in agreement. "I want to see him break the second record."

Amon could only looked at Houji with blank expression as he remembered the night when Garou started his debut as a devourer and ghoul-slayer in Tokyo. It was the first time Amon saw a monster in human form, other than ghoul.

Garou grabbed the boy and locked him around his left arm. He brought Juuzou in a fashion of carrying a rolled carpet. Yet, Juuzou seemed to become happier with such treatment.

"Oh, Garou-_kun_. I'm sorry. Please, bear with Juuzou." Shinohara put an apologetic smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I think it's better that way. You look like a father, Garou-_kun_." Investigator Houji's remark made the golden-eyed man cringed in embarrassment.

"Or… A very kind brother." Hirako's statement made some investigators chuckled.

The martial artist sighed as he let loose his arm. But the boy seemed to keep clingy toward him. Juuzou still leaned his head on Garou's arm when he landed on the floor. As the golden-eyed man fixed his suit jacket after the skirmish, an attractive female investigator came to see him. She seemed to be around late forties.

"_Ara_, _ara_… So, you are Garou-_kun_?" The lady asked as she gave her hand while smiling to the martial artist. "You're quite popular among special investigators. I heard a lot about you from Shinohara-_san_ and Kuroiwa-_san_."

"Garou-_kun_, this is investigator Kiyoko Aura." Shinohara introduced the woman as she nodded. "She's my mentor, back in the academy."

"Oh. Nice to meet you," said the martial artist as he took her hand. "I'm Kotsuhiko Garou."

When he took her hand and looked at the smiling lady, he got stiff all of sudden. The lady's face bore too much resemblance to his homeroom teacher when he was still in second grade of elementary school, not really long before his ordeal with Tacchan. The way she smiled bore too much resemblance with the good teacher. At that time, he thought that school was a pleasant place to study. A long lost thought which had reemerged recently.

"I'm looking forward to our cooperation, Garou-_kun_."

"Uh-um." The silver-haired man nodded as he smiled awkwardly while his mind was still occupied by the sweet memories of his early years at school.

However, not all investigator was as friendly as Shinohara and Aura. There was one investigator who wasn't pleased by the warm welcome given to Garou.

"Amon," called a bespectacled investigator with round glasses and spiky white hair in rather curt manner. "Why do you bring rookie to this place?"

"Investigator Chuu Hachikawa. I got an order to do so." The hulk gave his answer nonchalantly.

"Hmm. And you, new kid. Route V14 is not for you! You don't bring any quinque?" Hachikawa warned Garou harshly as he glared with contempt. "You're dead!"

Hachikawa's flaring made other investigators scowled in response. Houji even glared dagger at the spiky who hid his mouth behind his high-collared white jacket. Seeing the bad change of situation, Shinohara tried to lessen the tension.

"Oi, Hachi-_san_," begged Shinohara. "Please, calm down. CCG has given permission for him to join us. And he's quite talented too."

"Talented?" The spiky scoffed while squinting his eyes. "How many of our friends got killed in this dungeon, Shinohara-_san_? And they were among the most talented! New recruit won't stand a chance! And without quinque? He's a ghoul's dinner after he pass that damn gate!"

Enough is enough for the former Hero Hunter. To be called untalented just because he was still new and didn't bring quinque was a total insult for Garou. His pride as Bang's former top disciple who nearly put an end to Hero Association would not let such infuriating statement went unpunished. At least he should show who was the boss.

The martial artist's face darkened. The investigators could feel the change of atmosphere as they put worried face. Even Juuzou who stood beside Garou fidgeted although he didn't knew what was really going on. When the martial artist gazed at Hachikawa, the said spiky was taken aback. The piercing golden eyes shot their owner's anger towards the investigator who dissed the former Hero Hunter. His killing intent burned the humid air around them to the degree that investigator Aura hyperventilated. Shinohara gulped as he stood rigid on his place while Houji and Amon sweated bullets.

In the midst of such nerve-wrecking situation, suddenly the martial artist felt some familiar presence who came toward them. Since he didn't want to cause any trouble, he ended his stunt with a deep breath and long sigh. At least, that was enough as first warning. The rest of the investigators also sighed. It made the new guests missed the event.

"Old man… What was that just now?" asked Juuzou curiously since the boy didn't know that Garou was so furious.

The martial artist only shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the scrawny boy. He then looked back to see who were coming. He wasn't surprised at all since he had noticed who they were: Kishou Arima and his two guards. As their steps got closer, the investigators recomposed themselves.

"Good evening," greeted the ace calmly as he walked toward the investigators. "Sorry. We're late."

"Investigator Arima." Take Hirako bowed, followed by other investigators. "You come five minutes earlier."

As Garou bowed, the ace investigator also bowed in response. Arima then noticed some hint of uneasiness was still carved on the investigators' faces. He knew that something was not right.

"Did something happen?" inquired Arima.

"Oh. N-nothing happened. Every thing's okay." Shinohara lied as he and Aura smiled sheepishly while other investigators glanced at each other.

"I see," replied the white-haired investigator.

Arima was still suspicious. Yet, since he thought that it was not a big problem, he didn't inquire it any further. Perhaps it was just a normal heated debate. Besides, there was Shinohara – a reliable person who could always solve such thing. When he eyed the investigators, there was one person whom he believed as the provoker. '_Chuu Hachikawa_,' thought Arima as he eyed the figure who looked a little bit terrified by something. '_As I thought. His abrasive comment always brings trouble_.'

Meanwhile, Arima's two attendants who stood behind him were waiting for his order. They wore white hooded jacket over their formal suit like their leader and carried a trunk. The first was Koori Ui, a man in mid-twenties with bowl-head cut. Garou nearly mistaken him for a woman due of his face and delicate feature. The other was Hairu Ihei, a pink-haired girl with heavy lidded eyes. The martial artist didn't know who they were, but he was sure that the girl with the sleepy expression was so familiar to him. Familiar in a way that he often felt her presence, especially when he was around the academy.

Before they entered the metal gate, Arima briefed the investigators. While the golden-eyed man was hearing the instructions, Juuzou was still sticking around the martial artist. He was not bothered though, but he saw Shinohara looked a little bit worried. As the martial artist directed his vision towards the surroundings, he saw Ihei kept staring at him. His suspicion that she was his stalker grew. Having a bunch of classmates who adored him like a nobleman was enough. Having a stalker was the worst. He needed to ask her later to confirm his suspicion.

"Okay. About the team." Arima explained as he glanced at his watch. "We'll make two teams. The first team will be led by investigator Shinohara. Investigator Aura will be the vice leader. And I will lead the second one. As of the members, investigator Shinohara will go with the his main squad and investigator Aura's squad. But investigator Hirako, Juuzou Suzuya and Kotsuhiko Garou will join my team. Please, follow the instruction and we'll meet at the rendezvous point in two hours. Is there any question?"

"No, Sir," repiled the investigators in unison.

"Very well. Before we proceed, please check your equipment and quinque."

As the investigators checked their gears, some of them muttered their views toward Arima's plan. They didn't really disagree with the ace but his decision to bring new recruit was weird. Meanwhile, Shinohara and Houji were smiling as they checked their radios. The smiling men made Aura curious.

"Hey, Shinohara-_san_…" whispered Aura. "Are you sure about this plan?"

"Don't worry," replied the friendly investigator as he gave an assuring smile. "Have you heard Iwa-_cho_'s story about him?"

"Uh-um. He's… scary." Aura remarked as she pondered about how Garou dealt with Hachikawa. "But, I'm not sure."

"You were scared at first. Later, you'll see how awesome and dependable he is, _Sensei_. He's young man, filled with surprise. If you still have doubt, just look at those sharp golden eyes and bulging veins on his hands." Shinohara teased his mentor as he snickered. "If you were 30 years younger, I bet you'll chase him. Or, even you'll fight Arima's squad member over there just to win him."

Aura blushed as she pouted in response. "Grr… Shin-_san_! That's not funny!"

As the investigators finished the checking, Arima passed a printed map for Shinohara and Aura. They held their own quinque box and prepared to enter the gate of the fence. Hirako, Garou and Juuzou then followed Arima as the other investigators grouped with Shinohara and Aura.

"Okay. All set," Shinohara said after he handed the map to Houji.

"Very well. Let's proceed." Arima said as he led the group toward the gate.

The bowl-head then gave Arima some keys to open the padlocks on the gate. Gate, fence, chains, and the padlocks were made with tungsten and reinforced with _kakuhou_ extract to guarantee its durability. The fact that the gate and the fence remained intact was a proof that ghouls never passed this path. When the white-haired investigator tried to open the last padlock, it didn't budge. Some investigators then helped Arima to open it but failed.

"Should we break it?" asked Houji as he inspected the padlock.

"Well. Can't be helped," replied Arima. "Besides, we bring some replacements."

Before the investigators took action any further, Garou came towards the gate. Without saying anything, he grabbed the malfunctioned padlock and clenched it in his fist. As he opened his palm, the the padlock crumbled into crisp. The investigators hung their jaws while blinking in disbelief. Juuzou then squatted to take some pieces and looked at the martial artist curiously.

"Old man… How did you do it?" asked the boy.

"Martial arts." Garou replied while smirking smugly as he flicked Juuzou's forehead.

"Ouch…" Juuzou winced as he put his hands on his forehead, followed by a grin.

Shinohara's smile grew bigger. He glanced at Aura who was still perplexed by Garou's feat.

"See. That's just a small bit of his ability," said Shinohara. "Right, Amon?"

"Hmm. He can pull out more than that." Amon who was not really surprised by Garou's ability replied his senior with inexpressive face. "We'll see later."

"Eh? But, I still cannot believe that," replied Aura.

"And he's still 18." Hirako deadpanned.

"Eeh!? Seriously!?" Aura's eyes widened in shock as Shinohara and Houji smirked.

When the other investigators were still trying to digest what had just happened, the martial artist was busied by the boy. Juuzou suddenly rubbed his head against the Garou's arm which was very warm. The martial artist gave up in return as he sighed. Yet it seemed that the boy was not enough with that. He then leaped onto Garou's back.

"Give me a piggyback ride, old man!"

"I'm not your father!" scolded the martial artist as he grabbed Juuzou's ankle, pulled him and hung him upside down with one of his hand.

"Wee…! Can you throw me up to the ceiling!? Hahaha…"

The martial artist facepalmed as Shinohara, Hirako and Houji laughed at him. As he looked at them, he found a change of mood in Amon who smiled at him. '_He's amused?_' thought Garou. '_Hmm, that's good?_'

Garou saw the boy was childishly stubborn. Reluctantly, he let it slid as he placed the boy onto his back. The boy then resided comfortably on his back. Arima who had recovered from his awe-stricken state then cleared his throat.

"Thanks for the assistance, Garou-_kun_," said Arima while Garou nodded in response. "Now, proceed with care."

As they entered the gate with their respective group, Shinohara walked not really far from Juuzou and Garou. The senior investigator then talked to the boy and the martial artist as they headed toward a dim-lit junction. At least he wanted to give some advice for the hair-clipped boy and the demon before their parties took different path.

"Hey, Juuzou. Don't trouble Garou-_oji-san_, okay." The leader of the first group said as he smirked while patting the boy's back.

"Okay, Shinohara-_san_." The boy replied and yawned as his carrier's eye twitched.

"Just kidding, Garou-_kun_." Shinohara chuckled as he rubbed the martial artist's shoulder. "Thanks very much for accompanying Juuzou. Please be safe. Good luck."

"Well, thanks. I'll do my best," replied the golden-eyed man as his annoyed look turned back to normal.

"See you at the rendezvous point, Garou-kun," said Houji.

"Uh-um."

"Don't disappoint me." Came Amon's voice from behind Shinohara.

Garou turned his head to see the giant and gave him a thumbs up. "And don't let your stress eats you."

Amon let out a little gasp. He didn't know that Garou had such concern about him. It made him glad. The martial artist finally had changed. The hulk also raised his thumb to reply the golden-eyed man as he smiled.

Shinohara's team took a left turn while Arima's went straight. Before their teams went further, investigator Aura waved her hand as she faced Garou.

"Good luck, Garou-kun!"

"Eh?" was the only thing that came out from martial artist's mouth.

Aura's action gained various reactions from the investigators. Most of them snickered, some others grimaced, while Shinohara snorted. Arima only fixed his glasses as he made a mental note about the martial artist while Hirako smiled. Meanwhile, Ui hung his jaw slightly as Ihei gritted her teeth.

When he regained his composure from his bafflement towards Aura's action, Garou decided to send his last warning as Hachikawa passed him. His punishment for Hachikawa was still not enough.

"Investigator Hachikawa. Remember. I'll make you eat your words!" The martial artist sneered as he walked behind Arima.

Garou's words not only made his target froze. Shinohara's teammates shuddered by the threatening tone as they continued their pace.

* * *

Some minutes had passed as they traversed deeper into the tunnel network. They had reached the part which appeared to be some sort of sewer. As they traveled near the water, Arima's team hadn't found any sign of ghoul activity. Garou walked besides Hirako while Juuzou had fallen asleep on his back. The silver-haired man shook his head. Meanwhile, Arima and his subordinates were talking about some ways to counter an ambush. Hirako then opened a conversation with the golden-eyed man who kept silent after he parted with the senior investigators.

"Garou-_kun_," called Hirako as he tapped the martial artist's shoulder.

"Hmm… What?"

"Thanks for the help."

"Do you mean the padlock?" Garou raised his brows. "Don't mention it. Compared to your _bokken_, it was nothing."

"Oh, haha… Well… Speaking of _bokken_, how do you think about the _kendo_ club?" inquired Hirako.

"Nothing special," replied the martial artist plainly. "These weeks, we're having some spars."

"I see." Hirako nodded. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Not really."

"Hmm…" Hirako hummed as he glanced at Arima. "Cadets didn't stand a chance against you, huh? Did you use your technique during the fight?"

"Of course not." Garou replied as his sight wondered towards the darkness in front of their team. "I only use what I've learned about _kendo_. If I use my technique, the fight would be absolutely boring."

Hearing new revelation about Garou, the ace investigator made further mental note about him. Based on what he concluded from Ihei's research, the martial artist was a simple man who liked to to learn. And he seemed to be a person who liked challenging fight as well. The test in this dungeon perhaps might give him one.

"Hmm. That's good, I think." Was the only response Hirako could give to Garou.

Arima then stopped near a light source, followed by the rest of the team. It made his teammates puzzled as they readied themselves in anticipation, except Garou who was still carrying sleeping Juuzou.

"I forget something," uttered Arima as he turned around to face Garou and Hirako. "And it's very important."

"And that is…?" asked Ui as he eyed his leader while expecting something really bad.

"I haven't introduced you to Garou-_kun_." Arima replied dryly.

Ui dropped his jaw. "Chief, I thought you lost something!"

"Uhm… Right." Ihei remarked as she smiled awkwardly. "But, that's not funny, Chief."

"That prank always works whenever we come to this place," replied Arima as his glasses gleamed. "Well. Garou-_kun_, besides Take Hirako, these are my subordinates."

Ui gulped while Ihei stiffened. They had just realized that they hadn't introduced themselves to the mysterious man their leader was trying to seek knowledge about. As seconds passed, they felt the man's stare with unconventional hairstyle drained their mental. Juuzou's faint snore and Hirako's stoic face only worsen their situation. At this point, only their very thin courage and Arima's assuring smile which could drive them into action.

"I see. Kotsuhiko Garou. Nice to meet you." The martial artist bowed slightly.

Garou's response somewhat eased the bowl-head investigator. Yet his nervousness could be seen clearly as cold sweats dripped on his forehead.

"Koori Ui." The bowl-head smiled as he made a handshake with the demon. "Nice to meet you too."

The golden-eyed man was wierded out when his hands met Ui's. '_Damn! He's catching cold but why he joins us?_' mused the martial artist as looked at Ui's eyes. '_No… He's not sick. He must be scared by something. But what?_'

Ihei's turn came and she nervously gave her hand. It made the golden-eyed man narrowed his eyes. When Garou took her hand, she staggered while her tongue felt like being locked. She hardly uttered a word.

"What's wrong?" asked the martial artist.

"H-h-hi…" greeted Ihei nervously as her face turned red. "I'm…"

"Yes?" Garou frowned as he still held her hand which felt abnormally warm.

The fact that Ihei was so nervous only made Garou's suspicion became stronger. The martial artist could hear her raising heartbeat. Her flickering eyes and reddening cheeks only convinced Garou that she was the stalker. Or worst… a pervert.

Hirako only glanced at Ui who was wierded out. Meanwhile, the bespectacled investigator could only put a solemn face as he looked at the unfolding event of the meeting between his trusted subordinate and the subject of his research. '_Please forgive me, Ihei. It's for the sake of CCG._' Arima could only apologize in his thought.

"…I-Ihei. Hai-ru Ihei."

Suddenly, the martial artist yanked Ihei to his side. His free hand moved into blur to counter some objects which flew toward the party. Arima raised his trunk to shield him from the objects. They had just realized that they were shot with RC-cell shards. The investigators then pressed the button on their trunks to unleash their quinque while Garou put down Juuzou to wake him up. The martial artist thought that it would be better to stick with the team. That was why he needed Juuzou's weapon.

"Umm, t-thanks, Garou-_san_." The pink-haired girl muttered as she readied _Yukimura 1/3_.

Garou didn't respond her as he was trying to wake Juuzou. For a moment, Hirako and Ui were surprised by Garou's reflex.

"Oi, Juuzou… Wakey, wakey…" The golden-eyed man shook the boy.

"Oagh, old man…" The hair-clipped boy yawned. "It's very nice…"

"Wake up!" scolded Garou. "Do you bring your knives? Give me one! Quick!"

"Mkay." Juuzou unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a dozen of _Scorpion_ knives, stashed behind it. "Just take it."

"What the…? Tsk!" The martial artist clicked his tongue as he took a _Scorpion_. "Don't you have any better place to keep those things?"

"Mehehe… I think that's the best place," replied Juuzou as he rubbed his eyes.

The rest of the team readied themselves to engage the attacker. Arima and his subordinates formed a battle formation. They didn't know what their enemy had planned. Waiting for them and retaliate was better than rushing towards them, given the circumstances.

"Everyone, stay sharp!" commanded Arima as he held his rapier, _Narukami_.

Garou threw the _Scorpion_ in his hand at the direction of the attacker which was covered by darkness. Arima and his team didn't notice Garou's action. Then, they heard a loud scream.

"Follow me!" said Arima as he ran toward the source of the scream.

His team followed suit. When they reached the source of voice, they were stunned by the sight of a ghoul who was jerking on the floor. The bespectacled investigator slashed the flesh-eater before it could recover. Upon closer inspection on the dead body, the team found a _Scorpion_ knife lodged into the forehead, piercing through the plastic mask worn by the ghoul.

"A… _Scorpion_?" asked Ui as he squinted his eyes.

Hirako and Ihei who knew the owner of the quinque glanced at Juuzou.

"Not me," replied the boy as he grinned while pointing at Garou. "Old man did that."

The said silver-haired old man didn't give any response as he walked towards the dead ghoul. He crouched and pulled the hilt of the knife casually. Ui and Hirako were taken aback as Ihei gasped.

"Sorry, I still need this. Besides–"

The martial artist's sentence was interrupted by a blue _bikaku kagune_ shot towards him from the other side of the sewer. He moved slightly to evade the sneak-attack, grabbed the _kagune_ and threw the _Scorpion_ on his other hand towards the _bikaku_ user.

"… They're coming this way." The scream of the _bikaku_ user followed as Garou finished his words.

The blue _kagune_ soon disappeared as the user fell down. The investigators put their guard up as they heard more steps. The light around the place was enough for them to see how many ghouls who were coming. There were ten masked flesh-eaters who surrounded Arima's team. The investigators formed their formation as the ghouls readied their _kagune_. Juuzou was behind the formation as he took his knifes while Garou stood in front of Arima, facing the ghouls.

"Garou-_kun_, can you take the ghouls over there?" asked the ace as he pointed towards the other side of the sewer.

The former Hero Hunter only nodded as he glanced at his targets. He looked at two_ ukaku_ and two _koukaku_ users who also looked at him with their gleaming _kakugan_ behind their masks. Without hesitation, he lunged from the team to fight the ghouls. And for a moment, the investigators were surprised again due to their leader's order and Garou's casual response.

As the golden-eyed man leaped to the other bank, a _koukaku_ and a _rinkaku_ users in front of the team made their move. Arima and Hirako shared a nod. When the two ghouls ran to strike, Arima dashed and passed them to kill a _bikaku_ user behind the two with a single slash to the neck. The attacking ghouls who got distracted by Arima's attack were wide open, leaving them vulnerable spot for Hirako and Ui to strike. Hirako used his _Nagomi 1/3_ to slash the _koukaku_ user while Ui stabbed the _rinkaku_ ghoul with his _Taruhi_. But the attacks could not stop the ghouls as they still stood despite their wounds. The two ghouls retreated as their companion gave a covering fire of RC shards. The investigators jumped back in response.

The problem was the _ukaku_ user who hurled RC-cell shards. The RC-cell shots would close any opening for the investigators to finish the _koukaku _and _rinkaku_ duo.

"Ui… Can you reach the shooter?" asked Hirako as he looked at the flying _ukaku_ user.

"Okay. Watch my back!"

Juuzou who always acted independently ran around the ghouls while throwing his knifes at them. Some of them hit their marks while the others got deflected by _kagune_. The ghouls in return tried to attack Juuzou, but the boy was quick enough to dodge the _kagune_ lashed by the _rinkaku_ user and RC-cell shards barrage. Despite the small damage from _Scorpion_, the boy's action was enough to distract the ghouls. Ui took that chance to lash out _Taruhi_'s blade in its whip form which managed to cut down the _ukaku_ user.

The moment their shooter eliminated, the two ghouls regenerated and attempted another attack towards the investigators. Ihei came forward to parry the _rinkaku_ user's whipping _kagune_ while Juuzou fought the _koukau_ user with _Scorpion_ on each hand. The ghouls got overwhelmed by the attacks from four people as they left much opening for Hirako and Ihei to give finishing blows. The _rinkaku_ user fell as _Yukimura 1/3_ pierced the body while the other got decapitated with _Nagomi 1/3_.

Hirako and the team came to see Arima afterward. The ace had just killed two ghouls. One was slashed, the other got electrocuted as some small sparks were still jumping from the body. _Narukami_ proved to be a versatile weapon with its rapier and electric gun forms. In total, the team had killed six. Arima took the three. But before Hirako could catch up with Arima, he looked back to see his team stopped on their tracks. When he glanced at Arima, he saw his leader gazed at the other side of the watercourse. He looked at what the ace and his team were looking at. Hirako's eyes widened. The martial artist was facing four flesh-eaters alone.

"What the…" uttered Ui as he eyed the fight.

"Ga-Garou-_san_…" Ihei stammered.

"Go for it, old man!" The hair-clipped boy pumped his hand as he looked at the martial artist with gleaming eyes.

Garou who heard Juuzou's echoing voice glanced, only to find the investigators were gawking at him. From the start, the martial artist wanted to prolong the fight because he wanted to test the average strength of _kagune_ and the durability of the users. From the four ghouls he was fighting, he found many differences in their respective natural weapons. The _koukaku_ users had harder _kagune_ compared to the _ukaku_s. Yet _koukaku_ _kagune_ was not flexible and slowed down the user. Meanwhile, _u__kaku_ gave advantages for speed and long range attack but it exhausted its user too much. '_Too many limitations. Too many drawbacks,_' mused Garou as he smirked while avoiding a slash from his blind spot. '_Too bad. They don't know the wonder of martial arts._'

Like his usual fights, the attacks from the ghouls were evaded effortlessly. It only left an impression for the investigators that Garou was toying the ghouls. The stares from Arima's team reminded him that there were still much area to cover. Playtime was over.

"Hate me all you want!" The martial artist taunted as he sidestepped a _koukaku _strike and shard barrage.

"Y-you–" One of the ghoul muttered under his ragged breath.

Before the ghoul could finish his words, the former Hero Hunter rushed towards the ghouls in a speed their eyes could not register. As Garou landed some meters away, the three fell onto the floor, reduced into a pile of chopped meat. The investigators dropped their jaws. Even Juuzou's mouth and Arima's were agape upon seeing such insanely bizarre power. What kind of ability which allowed the user to shred ghouls into pieces? Only God knows what it was.

The last ghoul froze when he saw his comrades were minced by an unknown being in human form. If he should describe a devil, perhaps the thing before him was the real embodiment of such abomination. And it was his first as well as his last time to see the devil as its punch tore apart his body completely.

The investigators once again were shocked to see another display of Garou's ability. A person who could blow a ghoul with a single punch was totally surreal. It was something beyond their imagination.

Blood pooled in front of the former Hero Hunter as he ended the carnage. He jumped back to the other side and reunited with the team. The investigators were still staring at him in disbelief. Their faces showed a mix of fear and astonishment. Yet, he didn't care. He just wanted to do what he likes. That's the way Garou is after his arrival to this new world. Some people asked him for help to eradicate some monsters, and he took the job to repay their kindness.

"Shall we go?" asked the golden-eyed man casually like there was nothing.

"Uhm… Right. Let's go." The ace replied as he fixed his glasses.

Arima led the way. The more he thought about Garou's ability, the more he got confused. His hypothesis that the man was a martial artist still could not answer his question. As far as he knew, there was no martial art technique which allowed the user to kill ghouls that easy. Some ultimate techniques of _kung-fu_ or _taichi_ probably might do that, but that was still nearly impossible since it would need years to master. Unless, either Garou was a supernatural being or a super prodigy. Arima believed the latter.

The team continued their way to the meeting point. The bespectacled investigator could only hear steps and chats of his teammates as his mind was still trying to logic the phenomenon. He tilted his head to see Hirako and Juuzou walked beside Garou while Ui and Ihei were behind them.

"Old man, that was so cool," flattered the boy. "How did you do that?"

"Didn't I tell you," replied Garou as he grabbed Juuzou's shoulder lightly. "It's martial art."

"But it was still… I don't get it, Garou-_kun._" Hirako uttered his confusion as he looked at the martial artist. "How can you do that thing? And, what was that?"

Bang's disciple sighed. "Hirako-_san_, I don't think you'll believe it if I explain it to you. But I've said the answer to Juuzou."

"I see… Martial art? Well, if you say so," replied the stoic-faced investigator.

"Don't take it seriously. One day you'll see how it works." The martial artist smiled as he looked at Arima's back.

Arima didn't miss the conversation while keeping his pace. He was thinking about what had just been said by Garou. Perhaps one day he could know the secret behind such ability. But, when? He also could not answer that.

Meanwhile, Ui and Ihei were silent. Their minds were totally blown by the very man who was walking in front of them. Surely, that was just an opening performance from the former Hero Hunter for that night.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Eighth chapter. But the carnage and horror the investigators would see hasn't over yet.

I hope you enjoy my story. Thanks very much for reading.

See you in the next story. ;-)


	10. Picnic Went Awry

**Author's Note**

Hello, my dear readers. Thank you very much for all your supports. :-)

So, what kind of thing the investigators might see in V14? Here they are.

* * *

I do not own One Punch Man.  
I do not own Tokyo Ghoul.  
One Punch Man belongs to ONE.  
Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Sui Ishida.

| Picnic Went Awry |

* * *

"Sensei!" called Shinohara as he dodged a pink _bikaku __kagune_.

Aura who stood behind some investigators fired her rocket-launcher-like quinque, _Zebizu_. The two projectiles managed to hit their target. The ghoul's body exploded and fell to the ground.

Shinohara's team was having a tough time. They didn't expect that they would run into a horde of ghouls. Presumably, they were the members of Aogiri Tree. The situation forced the team into defensive since they were only eight persons while the ghouls were around 20. Most of the bunch were B-rate.

Shinohara, Houji and Amon took the front position while Aura and Hachikawa gave covering fire. The rest of the team were guarding the shooters from _kagune_ attacks. Most of Shinohara's men were exhausted due to constant sporadic attacks they faced before they ran into the horde. They didn't know until how long they would survive. For senior investigators, that was possible. But for juniors, it would be a luck if they went out alive from the combat.

Five flesh-eaters advanced with their _kagune_s sprung out. Their tactic was to confuse the investigators as they ran while shifting places between them. Amon and Houji took their stance while holding their respective quinque. When Shinohara gave a cue to strike, Hachikawa fired RC-cell shards from his _Kajiri_. The shards managed to break the ghoul's formation which allowed the front-liner to finish the attackers. Shinohara got one. Amon and Houji made a coordinated strike to kill another. The rest, were ganged by the team.

"Houji, Amon…" called Shinohara as he rubbed his forehead. "How long can you go?"

"I'm still good to go," replied Houji as he held his halberd, _Chi She_.

"Same as Houji-_san_," replied Amon as he raised _Doujima_.

"Good," commented Shinohara. "_Sensei_, how many we've slain?"

"Ten." Aura replied as she readied _Zebizu_ for another shot.

"They were still many, huh?" commented Shinohara. "Conserve fire! Keep the formation!"

"Yes, Sir." The team replied in unison.

Victory was not impossible, but it might cost their lives. Shinohara's plan was to deplete the foe as much as they could while avoiding any casualty. Yet, they didn't have enough manpower to support the plan.

Shinohara had requested Arima's aid, but it would take around 30 minutes for the reinforcement to come from the nearest route of the network. Not to mention that Arima's team would also slowed down if they found another horde. In the meantime, Shinohara's team could only hit if any of the ghoul came closer to the formation.

Suddenly, Shinohara's radio went off. Meanwhile, both the investigators and the ghouls didn't make any move. They were pausing while thinking about each other's attack.

[Investigator Shinohara, don't go closer to any wall!]

"What?" Shinohara frowned when he heard Arima's sudden warning as he pressed his earpiece. "What do you mean?"

Aura and her teammates who listened Arima's voice also gave same reaction. The warning from the ace was very odd. And the next line would make them thought that the bespectacled man was not sane anymore.

[We'll break through the wall.]

At that moment, the investigators could only blinked. They thought that Arima got a hit on his head. Was that a joke? But soon enough, they realized that Arima was serious.

After the call, the ghouls and the investigators heard cracking sound. Most of the ghouls were freaked out and ran while the team stood still on their place. When the men turned their heads to see what was behind them, they felt strong gust and saw the wall was cracking. It made their blood ran cold as they could not move their legs, out of fear. They didn't know what it was, but they thought it was the work of a _kakuja_ or something more horrible. It seemed that this thing was the stuff Arima had warned them about. Their heartbeat raised into abnormal level as their eyes kept staring at the cracks of the wall which producing strong wind. And what made them shocked was the cracks formed bullseye pattern. Their fear grew even more when the cracked wall was pushed out and cut into ringlike concrete blocks. It left a giant, perfectly circular hole on the wall. They thought it was their end.

The investigators could feel their hearts skipped a beat when they saw some figures behind the dust. When the dust cleared, to their relief, they saw Garou came out from behind the blocks, followed by Arima who walked calmly and Juuzou with his ever present grin. Knowing that it was not what they thought, the investigators let out a long sigh as some of them fell on their knees. Then, they saw Ihei went out after the group with content smile. A moment later, Hirako and Ui also followed. Unlike the other four, the two walked with shaky legs and they were as pale as paper. Even Ui used his _Taruhi_ as a makeshift cane to support him. Their eyes were flickering as their lips quivered. The sight was extremely bizarre. The investigators could not find any word to describe such situation.

Some of the ghouls who noticed Arima got scared and ran for their lives. They knew that they were no match against White Reaper. What they didn't know was Arima brought a much scarier company in tow. They hadn't had any idea that the rumored CCG's new pet was the one who broke the wall. They only heard about Phoenix but they didn't know the man's appearance.

Shinohara who stood still on his place was waiting while staring confusedly at the sight before him. He didn't know that Arima would find him through a completely unconventional way.

"I-Investigator A-Arima…" Shinohara stuttered. "What… happened?"

"Same as your team. We ran into some groups of ghouls on the way. Fortunately, Garou-_kun_ managed to clear the path."

"How many of them?"

"Around 50." Arima replied as he fixed his glasses.

Shinohara was staggered for a moment. But when he remembered about the raid in Itabashi, he knew that something like that was not impossible for the martial artist. In fact Garou slaughtered 30 ghouls in less than half of an hour without any weapon. Not to mention that there were two _kakujas._ Shinohara still could not understand about how the martial artist managed to do that.

"Umm… I… see, then," said Shinohara as he glanced at Juuzou who approached him. "… Did you use explosive to break that wall? That thing was around four meters thick!"

"Old man did that." Juuzou replied Shinohara casually.

"And he broke six walls in our way here, consecutively," added Arima as he checked his _Narukami_.

Shinohara hung his jaw as he stared blankly at the figure of the martial artist, standing some meters away from the group. He felt his brain short-circuited when he tried to think about the golden-eyed man who was in his blood-soaked suit. His blank mind came back into reality as Juuzou greeted him.

In the meantime, Houji helped Hirako and Ui who looked as if they had just exited a haunted house. As the investigators were still gawking at the arriving party in utter confusion, all the ghouls had fled from the vicinity. Amon then strode towards the martial artist who was alone.

"Yo, beast! You almost killed us!" The giant greeted the demon with a sarcastic remark as he smirked. "And those blood? People might think you got beaten so bad by ghouls."

"As if they can touch me," replied the former Hero Hunter as he also smirked. "And you're still alive? Seems your stress has gone, huh? Judging by your look, you've a good fight. I'm jealous, you know."

"Well, sometimes we need to vent out, right?" said Amon as he put _Doujima_ down. "Line of work consumed me lately. And I don't have time to go out like usual with Mado-_san_."

"Bored out of your mind?"

"Yep. Though actually…" Amon paused as his memory wandered back to the event when he was still a new recruit.

"Hmm…?" Garou hummed as he looked at Amon's solemn look.

"Well, nothing." The _Doujima_ wielder smiled as the martial artist raised his brows.

While the hulk and the demon were chatting, Houji and the rest of Shinohara's team were questioning Hirako and Ui who were sitting. Their legs gave up from the mental exhaustion they suffered. The investigators knew that the two didn't get any injury, but their mental state was battered. At least they needed some explanation about how the two became like that.

"Hirako, tell me what happened?" asked Houji.

"Urgh… I can't" Hirako refused. "Ui…"

"Man, why should I…" complained the bowl-head.

Houji sighed. "Okay. Please, just tell us what did you see?"

Hirako and Ui glanced at each other. They were not sure about how they should answer.

"Gore…" muttered Ui.

"So much gore…" added Hirako as his hands trembled while Houji and other investigators put thoughtful look. "I don't want to go back through that way."

"That place is just for people like Mado-_san_." Ui's statement surprised Houji.

"Take-_kun_, Koori-_kun_…" said Aura softly with concerned look. "Rest assured. It's okay. You can tell us later. And Kousuke, don't force them. I think you're too much."

"_Sensei_, just one more question, please." Houji pleaded to his mentor as he squatted and placed his hand on Hirako's shoulder. "Because this is very important."

"Well… If you say so, then go on," replied Aura as she rolled her eyes while crossing her arms.

"Okay. And the one who did that…?" inquired Houji as he looked at Hirako, then Ui, followed by a pause to wait for their answer.

Hirako and Ui pointed at Garou with their shaky fingers. Houji and Aura turned their gaze at the martial artist as their eyes widened. Like Shinohara had said, the martial artist was indeed a man of surprise. They needed to know more about the truth. And the truth suddenly came from a source they didn't expect.

"…And old man chopped the ghouls into pieces!" Came Juuzou's cheerful voice as he answered Shinohara.

Shinohara's teammates grimaced. Hirako and Ui vomited when the words "pieces" entered their ears. Houji and Aura hung their jaws while Arima closed his eyes. Amon and Shinohara facepalmed. Ihei hid her sadistic grin behind her hand as she rubbed her mouth. And Garou… He only shrugged his shoulders in response.

* * *

Soon, after discussing the matter with the investigators, Shinohara agreed with Arima's decision to dismiss the operation. The risk of pressing forward was bigger there were too much disturbance, unlike what they had planned. Unfortunately, they were still far from any escape point. Backtracking Shinohara's route would take much time. There were also some alternative routes but they were not in map, which possibly would lead them into some traps or ghoul bases. The safest option was going through the current route to the rendezvous point where the exit was near.

The group then followed the main route to reach the initial destination. Bringing a group of 14 through the tunnel sometimes proved difficult since not all the path were wide enough. If the ghouls ambushed them when they passed narrow paths, they could be wiped out easily. Yet they felt safe since Arima could handle such problem.

However, Arima himself started to think that Garou was much more capable than him. The absurd ability of the golden-eyed man was something the ace of CCG didn't possess. Arima was still confident that he could still met people's expectation. But he was aware that one day, the martial artist might took his position. Beside that, Yoshitoki had put an eye on the guy since day one. Moreover, Garou also attracted most senior investigators. However, Arima didn't hold a grudge towards the new recruit. Instead, it was his chance to prepare Garou as his successor. He would add the martial artist to the hidden agenda he had designed since a decade ago. There was no guarantee it would be successful. But it was worth the effort.

Along the way, the team had slain around 20 flesh-eaters. Most of these ghouls were trying to make a sneak attack but failed due to Arima's quick reaction and the team's readiness. The martial artist took a passive role because he saw the investigators performed better than those in Itabashi raid.

Garou who didn't take his chance to join the kill admitted that the surprise element dished out by the ghouls was excellent. The usage of terrain and mastery of _kagune_ were the key elements in the attack. The monsters from Monster Association could not devise this smart strategy when he entered their lair to save Tareo. But the fact that Arima could block their attacks and beat the ghouls was more remarkable. It impressed the former Hero Hunter. His respect towards Arima grew. To have such kind of reflex and speed for a human was really outstanding. Garou believed that Arima's ability was the result of a long training through countless combat, like Mado did.

Garou also noticed some other investigators who fought besides Arima. He had seen how Shinohara, Amon and Houji fought. For the trio, he gave rough estimation of their ability as those who settled between upper B or lower A class heroes. Kiyoko Aura also performed really well when she used _Zebizu_'s dual blade form. It surprised Garou since back in his world, he never found any female professional hero who wielded melee weapon with such mastery level. He thought that Aura was an adept. However, the performance of Arima's subordinates really caught his eyes. Despite their mild sickness after seeing Garou's rampage, Hirako and Ui still could fight really well. And another one who made him interested was the one whom he suspected as his stalker. Ihei's abnormal speed, reflex and the pattern of her movement was similar to Arima. The martial artist was curious, but it would be a question for later.

* * *

The team finally reached an open space, half way through their journey. They decided to stop to get a quick rest. After Arima's team breached the walls and continued their half-hearted mission, the team hadn't taken a rest because stray ghouls always popped up along the way. The place looked safe, so they took their time to replenish. Most of them sat on the concrete floor and had the provisions they brought, or just chatted while some others guarded the place.

When Amon drank his water, Shinohara, Houji, and Hirako seated themselves around him and had some talk. Garou and Juuzou joined them afterward. Aura who brought some chocolate shared them to her teammates. Garou smiled when she gave him the delicacy. He didn't think that she had a deep interest in him. Meanwhile, Ui was leaning on a wall, a little bit far from the investigators as he took his cigarette to ease his mind. Like the rest of the team, Arima also took a rest. He drank from his bottle as he looked at the map to mark some locations while Ihei sat near him, gulping her boxed milk. She still took some momentary glances at the martial artist as she looked at the map.

The dim light from the nearby lamps made the situation looked like a campsite. They were drowned in their warm chatting as they enjoyed the snacks. The situation made the golden-eyed man pondered about the last time he really had fun, together with people he could call as friend. When he went into camping in elementary school, the situation was not like this. It was thanks to Tacchan and his teachers, he should sleep in a tent for storing tools and supplies. He was tasked to guard that tent for two nights, alone. It made him sad and angry when he thought about how he felt. It was so unfair. As he lost in thought, Juuzou tugged his jacket. He saw the ace had folded his map and drank what was left in his bottle.

The rest was over when Arima stood from his place. The investigators followed suit as they grabbed their quinque. The team left the place afterwards to continue their mission, without knowing the scale of danger that had been waiting on their way.

* * *

If nothing came into their way, the group could reach the rendezvous point in 15 minutes. However, most of group member felt something odd. Right after they left their resting spot, no ghoul came out to ambush them. They only hoped that nothing would happen, but their gut feeling kept telling them the incoming danger that lurked. Garou knew such situation very well. Based on what he had experienced when he plunged himself into the hellhole called Monster Association HQ, this omen was a very clear sign of monsters, hiding somewhere near them. He was not nervous at all, but his tightening skin already alarmed him to prepare a combat. And it came, when the group saw glowing red beads in the darkness after they passed an intersection of a tunnel. The group didn't really know, but there were at least 50 ghouls.

The group formed a formation immediately. Aura and Hachikawa were defended by the melee wielders while Arima stood at the front. Garou was ordered to keep Juuzou in the back row since the boy would likely rush into the horde. The horde charged at the team. In response, Aura fired her _Zebizu_ while Hachikawa pulled _Kajiri_'s trigger. The blast of _Zebizu_'s projectiles managed to kill some ghouls while _Kajiri_'s shards stabbed some others. When the ghouls were not slowing down, Arima fired a series of thunder balls from _Narukami_. It managed to stop the flesh-eaters from advancing as they took a better look at the one who was firing the electric blast. The flesh-eaters retreated in response when they realized who was _Narukami_'s wielder.

From afar, a row of _ukaku_ users then came to the front and sent barrages of RC-cell shards in an attempt to slow down, if not kill the investigators. Before any of the shards impacted the team, Garou had leaped and landed in front of Arima. In a blink of an eye, he performed Bombs technique to make a whirlwind. The rotating air current managed to change the course of the shards. When the ghouls ended their RC-cell barrage, the investigators had just realized that the silver-haired man was standing in front of Arima, making a stance. They did feel a strong gust, but they didn't know the source. The happening was too fast for them to register and what they saw were only strewn around RC-cell shards.

Only Arima who knew what had just happened since he saw the shards only hit the floor and walls, instead of hitting him. He had a glimpse at how Garou performed _Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist_ earlier when they breached the walls to reach Shinohara, although he didn't know how in the world it could produce such strong air blow. It was very fast, but he could conclude that the martial artist deflected the shards with such move.

As the attack nullified, the baffled investigators were looking frantically in search of what had just transpired. Arima decided to test Garou further. The ace shared Shinohara's concern for the team, so he thought that giving the job to an extremely competent guy was normal. Besides, the researcher side of the bespectacled man was still begging to know more about the full extent of Garou's ability. After all, what was the aim of the test in this Tokyo sub-terrain if not for seeking the answer about Garou.

"Garou-_kun–_"

From his tone, the martial artist knew that the ace wanted to order him. He knew that Arima was his superior. His expectation towards the _Narukami_'s wielder had just rose. And he was also aware that he was still a freshman. But to be called around to grind some tentacled-cannibals at this point was somewhat… annoying.

"_Yare, yare_…" Garou cut Arima's speech as he looked at the ace, forced out a smile, while pointing at the direction of the fleeing ghouls. "You want me to finish that bunch? Nice! Let's get this over! I want to go home. Just lend me a quinque."

"Oi… Garou!" Amon yelled due to the demon's disrespectful manner towards the ace. "You–"

"It's okay, Amon-_kun_." Arima smiled as he raised his hand to calm Amon before he faced Garou again. "Just choose which one suits you."

The martial artist decided to borrow a quinque, merely because he was really bored. Bored and mentally tired to punch and kick the ghouls. He could finish the man-eaters with either Bang's or Bomb's techniques, but it got stale. Killing with bare hands had become totally unsatisfying since the enemies possessed very potent weapons but never be able to put a fight. He needed something refreshing. Being a prodigy, he needed something new but not too foreign.

When the martial artist took his time to eye the quinques wielded by the investigators, the horde had run further into the tunnel. Perhaps they were shocked to see their attack was failed by an unexplained phenomenon. They also took Arima's presence into consideration since he was so famous as the White Reaper, the one who defeated the Owl. Their boss. A mere legion like them would not survive. And what their dead comrades never told them was the Reaper brought Phoenix who had killed some patrolling party, earlier that night. To make matter worse, there was only a single straight way in the network. Their anguish and painful death had yet to come.

The martial artist had finally found his choice. He looked at Koori Ui as the image of a certain Class-A spear-wielder came into his mind. Garou had took a glance at how Ui used his _Taruhi_, and frankly speaking, it was mediocre. Compared to Stinger, Ui looked amateurish. But he didn't care. The martial artist just wanted to see until how far he could put _Taruhi_ into its full potential by mimicking Stinger's technique.

"Garou-_kun_?" asked Ui confusedly.

"Can I borrow your quinque?" The martial artist asked as he hunched a little bit.

"Just give him, Ui." Arima said with commanding tone as he glanced at his subordinate.

"Uhm… sure." Ui handed _Taruhi_ as chill from Garou's stare and his leader's voice crept down his spine.

"Garou-_kun_, are you sure you want to use a halberd?" asked Shinohara with concerned look as Houji nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Wouldn't it be better if you wield a sword?" Hirako offered his quinque. It was reasonable since Garou recently took training in _kendo_ club. "You can bring my _Nagomi_ if you want."

Most of the investigators hadn't had any idea that Garou was a fighter who could copy moves just by looking. He realized that the response from these people was normal since they hadn't seen his technique-copy ability. What he needed to do was just show them that he could do the job.

"Thanks," spoke the martial artist as he spun _Taruhi_ over his head like what Stinger did. "But I think this will do."

Seeing the bespectacled ace let the demon took a quinque, the investigators could not agree more. Arima's judgment towards a recruit was always accurate. CCG always took his views as consideration to determine the career of investigators. At the moment, the team was waiting for what the martial artist would do.

"Ugh, this feels sticky…" Garou muttered as he put down Ui's quinque to put off his tie, blood-soaked jacket and shirt, leaving his black T-shirt for the top. "Oi, Juuzou, bring my cloths!"

"No! Your cloths are stinky, old man!" retorted the boy as he pinched his nose.

"I don't care."

The investigators could only stare at the martial artist as their jaws dropped. The perfect muscles behind the tight T-shirt was another display to behold besides his combat skill. Being the only women in the team, Kiyoko Aura and Hairu Ihei blushed as they looked with wide eyes while covering their mouths.

"Sh-Shin-_san_…?" Aura stuttered in muffled voice as she was still covering her mouth. "Is-is that real?"

"Of course it is. Well… I think this is my first time seeing him showing off his asset," replied Shinohara as he scratched his cheek. "Though, I think he did so, out of convenience."

"Garou-_san_…" uttered the pink-haired investigator.

Arima who had seen Garou's form from close was not surprised. He thought that it was normal for such 18 years old to have bulging muscles. With hard exercises and strict diet, Arima was certain that one could attain those state of body building within a year. But what he could not believe was how such muscles could help the owner to do impossible things.

Garou himself didn't care about the investigator's reactions. As he picked _Taruhi_, he walked towards the escaping ghouls, leaving behind the team. He walked, then sprinted while pointing the quinque forward, producing strong wind that blew past the investigators.

The spectator still could not swallow what they had just seen. Deflecting shards, abs, and then running faster than a train, all of them were too much to perceive.

"There he goes," said Houji as he raised _Chi She_ onto his shoulder.

"Such a pain." Amon commented as he faced Arima. "Investigator Arima, please, forgive him–"

"Don't take it seriously, Amon-_kun_." The ace interjected as he showed hearty smile which made the giant gasped. "It's normal for a strong individual like him to act that way."

Ui gulped when he saw his quinque was taken by someone who looked more like a warrior. He could also feel _Taruhi_ was saying that she had found a competent master while smirking at him. He could not deny it since Garou outperformed him_. _Such reality hurt him really much.

As the wind from Garou's dash blew his hair, he saw Ihei's cheeks were red. The fact that the pink-haired girl became more attracted towards the new recruit hurt him even more. It was such a tragedy that the girl he liked would likely fall for another guy.

Furthermore, Arima's approval towards Garou's action despite his lack of discipline and respect crushed Ui's heart. It seemed that he would resent the golden-eyed demon for the rest of his life.

* * *

In 5 seconds, Garou had covered two kilometers. The rear of the crowd came into his sight, running clumsily. Since the martial artist wanted to stun the bunch, he skipped and aimed further where the bulk of the crowd located. He stomped the concrete floor below to jump and made some midair flips. The moment he dove down, he swung around _Taruhi_ to cut the ghouls below. The spear head and the axe blade gave flexibility and advantage for slashing. The coverage of slash given by the two type of weapons was excellent.

Seven was down when the martial artist landed in the middle of the horde. Some of the ghouls who got panic unleashed their _kagune_ in an attempt to strike Garou. But he dodged and the attack hit the other ghouls instead. The unintended strike soon turned into a riot when the ghouls who got attacked turned against the other. They were hitting at each other as they were quarreling about their loyalty toward Aogiri. Garou could only smirked as he jumped out from the fray to chase the front row who hadn't noticed what was happening. '_Pathetic. So they were just a bunch of untrained grunts? Totally useless._'

Garou jumped and skipped through the crowd as he slashed around. His incredible movement speed and randomized attack confused the ghouls. He went on with the killing as he found new excitement in wielding weapon. Obliterating enemies using martial art was cool. But using quinque was fancy and luxurious. Now, he could understand the sensation felt by heroes like Metal Bat and Atomic Samurai when they swung their weapons to cut monster. It was, amazing. It made him wondered whether he could apply _Water Flowing Rock Smashing Fist_ for wielding weapon.

Five minutes from his first kill, Garou had reduced half of the bunch. He swung around _Taruhi_ and piked the disoriented flesh-eaters while evading _kagune_s. Screams filled the air, blood gushed like geysers, and bodies piled. Most of the ghouls were not aware that a single man was attacking them. They felt as if they were ambushed by a group of investigators. The martial artist's speed, agility and flawless foot-work allowed him to squeeze his way from every opening in the crowd. His experience when beating Tank-Toppers helped his body to adjust with such battle.

Pole weapon was actually very dangerous for the wielder if being used inside a confined space. But the martial artist turned the downside into an advantage with his sheer power by swinging it forcefully whenever _Taruhi_'s blades stuck into anything. This brutish fashion of wielding pole weapon could not be called spearmanship at all. But it was effective enough to diminish the number of enemy, dramatically. After that, the martial artist tried Stinger's signature attack.

'_Gigantic Drill Stinger,_' mused Garou as he thrust _Taruhi_ while dashing forward. _Taruhi_ didn't have the mechanic which allowed its blade to spin like _Bamboo Shoot_. And it's nature as a halberd was not really suitable for doing such move. Despite the disadvantage, the martial artist strength could cover the gap. He just needed to adjust the balance around the shaft when he ran.

And the result was horrible for the victim. _Taruhi_'s cutting edge split the ghouls who stood on the way. Most of them were bisected. Ghoul's basic regeneration ability would not enough to mend such wound. They died instantly. With that attack, Garou managed to cut 15 in one go.

Ten out of 56 remained. These last of them were lashing out their _kagune_s desperately, only to be parried effortlessly by the martial artist. Ui's quinque also proved to be an effective weapon to block any attack. He was amazed that a mere bladed-stick could become a very versatile weapon. Before Garou finished them, he needed to take useful information.

"Oi… Actually for whom do you work?" Garou asked nonchalantly as _Taruhi_ clashed against a _rinkaku kagune_.

"GRAAHH! It's none of your business!" The ghoul hissed when he lashed out his _kagune_ as hard as he could. "FUYUKI!"

"TAKE THIS!" the other ghoul shouted as he jumped to shot RC-cell projectiles from his wings.

The martial artist spun _Taruhi_ in front of him to block the shard hail. The other ghouls also rushed toward him. He changed into defensive in order he wouldn't kill them before he got any intel.

"Useless!" the martial artist dashed and made a shallow cut on the _ukaku_ user's left shoulder. "Come on, just tell me about Aogiri or something. I know you're one of them."

Garou tossed _Taruhi_ and used his bare hands to turn the remnant of the bunch into 10 pretzels. As he twisted their arms and legs, an orchestra of loud, long, and unholy howl filled the space around them. It was so loud that the incoming investigators could hear the echoing scream of agony. The bone-chilling sound made them stopped for a moment as they thought that probably Garou was in trouble. Without hesitation, they hurried to catch with him.

Within 300 meters, the investigators could smell fresh blood. Fifty meters later, they saw bodies. The next fifty meters, there were more mangled bodies as the air became very nauseating. Hirako and Ui took their handkerchiefs in response. Arima was certain that the next thing they would see was something unimaginably disturbing. And some meters later, in the darkness, they heard sound of murmur and Garou's voice.

"So… you work under a guy named Noro, huh?" inquired Garou as he looked at the ghouls who were laying on the floor.

"I-I don't really know. Usually there was a representative f-from A-Aogiri to give us o-order." One of the ghouls answered with shaky voice.

"And where on earth is this representative?"

"GRRR… YOU'VE JUST KILLED HIM, EARLIER!" yelled one of the ghoul as he lashed out his _bikaku_ _kagune_, despite being limbless.

Garou grabbed the _kagune_ and threw the enraged flesh-eater towards the wall, cracking it. Before the ghoul slid down, the martial artist took _Taruhi_ and threw it. Ui's halberd impaled the chest and nailed the ghoul on the wall.

"See… That's what happened if you try to oppose me!" Garou spoke as he smirked at the rest of the ghouls who could stare in shock and horror.

The macabre decoration was seen by the investigators, which made them paled. And their blood froze when they saw the nine pretzels, served by Garou. Arima even grimaced at the display of such brutality. That was too much. He should stop the demon like what the Director had tasked him.

"Garou-_kun_. That's enough." Arima stepped closer towards the golden-eyed man as the investigators waited in worry.

"Hoh?" The martial artist who stood casually near the ghouls perked his head up. "Did you say enough, investigator Arima? Even if they had killed countless population of Tokyo?"

"You have inflicted unnecessary pain toward the ghouls."

"Article 13, huh?" The martial artist raised his eyebrows as he remembered the countermeasure law. "And how about the interrogators in Cochlea? I heard they have freedom do this kind of stuff.

"That's different. Our task here is to keep the civilians from ghoul's threat." Arima argued as he looked at Garou straight to his eyes.

"Are you sure? If we don't do this, how can we put an end to Aogiri?" Garou doubted Arima's reason. "Don't say to me that CCG only takes passive role as a peacekeeper."

Amon was gritting his teeth. He was really mad at the martial artist's derisive manner towards the ace. '_Damn you, Garou! Do you think you're smarter than investigator Arima?!_'

"GAROU!" The giant came out from the row of investigators. "STOP IT! THIS IN AN ORDER!"

Seeing the angry giant, the demon sighed. Actually he just wanted to understand Arima's way of thinking and dig any knowledge if the ace could give a better solution. But it the situation became annoying.

"Well. I think this is not a nice place for discussion, but…"

The martial artist paused for a moment as he felt one of the ghouls raised and attempted another sneak attack. In response, Garou sent a roundhouse kick to behead the flesh-eater. The head flew and landed in front of Hachikawa, which made him widened his eyes in disbelief. As _kagune_ came out from the headless body, the martial artist punched the body towards the wall decoration he made earlier. _Taruhi_'s shaft impaled it. The quinque had become an awful barbecue stick.

"…If I were you, I'll take the offensive."

That was the least of answer Arima ever wanted to hear from a new recruit. He thought that Garou shared Mado's idea regarding ghouls. At this point, he should not let the golden-eyed man to linger too long with his old mentor. It would be best to put him under control since with such power and ability, it was not impossible for Garou to slaughter ghoul population all over Tokyo within a year or so. Such thing would totally endanger CCG or even Japan. Ghoul population should be pushed under control. But a total annihilation would simply become a disaster for the organization.

"I see…" muttered Arima.

Garou had lost his motivation to squeeze any information about Aogiri. Arima's presence broke his mood. As the investigators gawked at him, he walked away to take _Taruhi_. He yanked the halberd out from the wall and pulled the dead ghoul from the shaft.

"Then, is my job done? There are still eight." Garou stated as he walked back towards Arima.

"Yes. I'll handle them." Arima answered calmly as he held _Narukami_ tightly. "Thank you, Garou-_kun_."

The ghouls grimaced when they saw how Garou treated the body of their comrades. If they were stronger or knew earlier about the Phoenix, they could escape from his freakish execution. But it was too late. Now, the White Reaper had stood in front of them. With two swift swings, the ace executed them. Garou stared at the moment with uninterested look as he held _Taruhi_. Meanwhile, the investigators looked at the event with mixed expressions.

The human predators were dead. Garou walked lazily towards Ui to give back his quinque. The owner was flustered when he took back his bloodied _Taruhi_.

"Thanks. This thing helped me really much." Garou said to Ui with inexpressive look. "Hope that I'll get this kind of thing."

The investigators could only stared in confusion and awe. They couldn't find any word to express their feelings toward the martial artist. Their eyes had seen the event but their minds always refused to accept what was just going on.

However, Amon was still really mad at the martial artist. He thought that Garou had changed to become better. But in fact he wasn't. The demon should be disciplined more to fix his attitude. Especially towards superiors.

* * *

Some minutes later, the team at last had escaped from V14. They came out near a line of subway track. Since the operation was over, most of the investigators went back home. Hirako and Ui were also among them. Coming out from the station, a bus from CCG was ready to pick them up. At last, they could breath fresh air. Meanwhile, Shinohara and Aura stayed to have some talk. Arima and Ihei were also there. As Juuzou was looking at some posters on the station's wall, the former Hero Hunter who sat on a bench, zoned out from the remaining investigators. He was mentally drained since he could not enjoy the battle to its fullest. Amon who decided to stay then came to see him.

"Garou, I must warn you!" The giant gave the martial artist a stern look.

"What? Did I do something wrong!?" Garou retorted as veins were bulging around his jaw.

"Obviously. You've disrespected investigator Arima." Amon replied as he put _Doujima_ over his shoulder. "And your response toward investigator Hachikawa was too much."

"Don't get me wrong, Amon-_san_." Garou argued as he crossed his arms. "I didn't mean to insult investigator Arima. I just want to give my opinion. That's all. And about investigator Hachikawa, I think he deserves that."

"That's it. You're lacking obedience toward your superior. And you let your temper consumed you."

Garou let out a long sigh in response as he slumped on the bench. Perhaps Amon was right. He lost his cool when Hachikawa mocked him. And he argued the ace in a less elegant manner. Maybe he should learn how to express his objection properly. When he thought about that, the bespectacled investigator came to see him and Amon.

"Amon-_kun_, Garou-_kun_. You don't go home?" Arima smiled at the two.

"Oh. Investigator Arima." Amon greeted the ace nervously. "T-there are s-something we're talking about."

"Is it about me?" asked the ace as he looked at Garou who faced him in return. "Amon-_kun_, please, don't mind about it. Instead, I'm happy that there is a new recruit who can express ideas in a more direct way. Anyway, thanks, Garou-_kun._"

The demon only nodded confusedly while Amon's jaw dropped slightly. But the giant felt that he was not finish yet.

"Very well. But remember, Garou." Amon directed his gaze again towards the golden-eyed man. "Not every person is kind enough to accept your attitude."

"Alright, alright." Garou surrendered as he stood then bowed to Arima. "Please, accept my sincere apology, investigator Arima."

The ace let out a light chuckle. He thought that it was funny. Though suddenly, his chuckle ceased as a his mind projected the images of his duel at the training ground against the martial artist. Added with the way Garou slaughtered the ghouls and his idea about offensive role, that was enough to shake the man who had once defeated the owl. Cold sweat dripped on his forehead. Actually, the one who should lower the head was him instead of Garou. The amusement turned into a dread.

"Alright, Garou-_kun_." Arima maintained his facade as he looked at the demon while smiling. "I accept your apology."

Garou smiled as he raised his face. In response, Amon put down _Doujima_ as his lips curled up. Yet, if anything could go worse, perhaps it was this time when Ihei stepped to see her investigation subject. Arima's mind raced to find an excuse if he could defend his subordinate. He knew that Garou was aware of Ihei every time she was in mission. And he knew that his subordinate had developed interest towards the golden-eyed man.

"Umm… Garou-_san_," said the pink haired girl as her cheeks reddened. "T-thank you."

The martial artist tilted his head as Amon quirked his brows in confusion. Arima closed his eyes as he imagined the worst scenario which might happen.

"For what?" asked the golden-eyed man as his frown became rather menacing.

Ihei gulped when the silver-haired man stared at her. Yet, she braced herself as her hand clenched _Yukimura_'s handle tighter. She used her quinque to steady herself as she endured the man's gaze.

"F-for saving me." Ihei answered shyly.

Amon's questioning look turned into a smug smirk. As his eyes fixed at the priceless perplexed-expression of Garou, he thought that the demon got a new admirer. However, Arima's heartbeat was still thundering as seconds passed.

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier, you saved me from the shooting shards."

Memory about the moment when he pulled her flashed in his mind. He didn't think too much about that since he focused on the ensuing battle. Suddenly he put a faint grimace when he remembered that she was the suspected stalker.

"Oh… Yeah, just don't mind about that." Garou's grimace became more apparent as Ihei's eyes gleamed. "But actually, I want to ask you."

Arima stiffened when Garou's words launched at Ihei. Meanwhile, Amon frowned since he didn't knew what was really going on.

"Eh?" The pink-haired girl was confused.

"Well. Are you the one who stalked me? I just feel that… I always being watched." Garou put a disgusted look as he rubbed his nape. "It's creepy, you know!"

Garou's statement made the girl flinched as her face turned red in embarrassment. She didn't know how she should explain about that. Meanwhile, Arima felt his heart would stop if this went further. Amon widened his eyes as he realized the fact about Ihei.

"I'm so sorry… I-I-I…"

It was too embarrassing. As Ihei's face became redder, she felt her head became lighter. She could not hold it anymore and she blacked out. Arima caught the girl before she fell. The giant and the demon could only stared in confusion. For Arima and Ihei as well, that saved them for the moment. But leaving Garou without any explanation would surely bring problem in the future.

* * *

Sitting comfortably on a couch in his home, Director Yoshitoki Washuu was reading some reports. He was assessing the progress of CCG's programs. However, the progress was disturbed by Aogiri's activities which lately became more aggressive. However, putting too much manpower for suppressing the ghoul organization was not a good choice, since he regarded Aogiri as an angry mob. As he flipped the pages in front of him, his smartphone which settled on the desk rang. Yoshitoki smiled when he looked at the screen. The caller was the man he was waiting for.

"Ah, Kishou… How was the operation?" Yoshitoki smiled as he held his phone.

[I cannot say anything… But I think I'm really getting old.]

Yoshitoki felt an unusual vibe from Arima. It was weird since the Reaper always composed, especially when he was on phone. The way Arima talked contained some hint of nervousness. Yoshitoki then tried to ease him.

"What did you say?" The Director chuckled. "Come on, Kishou. It's totally unlike you. Just tell me what happened."

[Well… Thanks to him. There was no casualty. And… He outperformed the investigators. Even me, combined.]

That was the real news. Hearing the shocking thing about Garou from the ace, Yoshitoki paused for a moment. The fact that there was someone who could outmatch Arima and all investigators was too much to bear for the Director. Based on what he heard about the event in Itabashi, he concluded that the new recruit was an extraordinary person. But to know Garou could make Arima so distraught shocked him. Yoshitoki never expected that the martial artist was that strong.

[I think you're right, Chika-_san_. We should give him First Class or even Associate Special.]

"Wait, wait, wait! Kishou! What do you mean?!"

[I think first rank is too low for him. Still, we need to put him under constant watch.]

Yoshitoki could understand Arima's reason about the freshman. But what he couldn't grasp was Arima's tone which could be described as worried. Worried as if bad things would happen. The way he spoke conveyed so much burden. In the end, Yoshitoki could only suggest the ace to not overexert himself.

"Kishou… Seriously. You must take a rest. Let's talk this matter tomorrow."

[Alright. I guess you're right. See you tomorrow, then.]

"See you."

Yoshitoki let out a huff after he hung up. Little did he know that the special seed CCG was nurturing would pain the ace, really much. He could only hope it would go well and didn't hinder any plan at the moment.

* * *

**A****uthor's Note**

And that's it. Amon gets along with Garou. Ui hates Garou. Arima fears Garou. The investigators were amazed by Garou. And… probably (just probably) there would be love rivalry between Ihei and Aura. For those who want to see Garou meets Hinami… it's still a long way.

So, I hope you enjoy my story. Thanks very much for reading this story.

See you next time. ;-)


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